Livingstone Powers Punjab Kings To A Five Wicket Win Over Sunrisers Hyderabad

Punjab Kings finished at the sixth spot in the IPL 2022 points table while Sunrisers Hyderabad at eighth.

Liam Livingstone's power-packed knock after a brilliant bowling display helped Punjab Kings defeat Sunrisers Hyderabad in the last league match of the IPL 2022 played at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. 

Chasing 158, Jonny Bairstow smashed 23 runs in 15 balls in the first three overs before getting. Shikhar Dhawan and Shahrukh Khan then added 38 runs in the next 21 balls for the second wicket as Punjab Kings smacked 62 runs inside the powerplay. 

Shahrukh scored 19 before Umran Malik got him out. In the next over, Mayank Agarwal also got out cheaply. But Dhawan kept one end tight and added 41 runs in 28 balls for the fourth wicket. 

Dhawan scored 39 in 32 balls before getting out in the 13th over. Jitesh Sharma came and smacked 19 in just seven balls to shift the momentum back towards PBKS. In the 15th over, Livingstone smashed 23 runs against Romario Shepherd to finish the game. Livingstone remained unbeaten at 49 which he scored in 22 balls with the help of five sixes and two fours. 

Earlier, disciplined bowling from PBKS held Sunrisers Hyderabad to 157/8 in the first inning. 

Opting to bat first, SRH's batting order was wrecked by Harpreet Brar's choke as he removed Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, and Aiden Markram in his four overs while conceding just 26 runs. 

Abhishek top-scored with 43 off 32 balls however, the rest of the batters couldn't capitalise on the start they got. Tripathi was out on 20, Markram, 21, and Washington Sundar 25. 

The final flourish was held by Nathan Ellis as he removed Nicholas Pooran for five, Sundar, and Jagdeesh Suchith for a first-ball duck. Romario Shepherd took SRH past the 150-run mark with his unbeaten 26 from 15 balls.

Even though the result didn't matter in the points table but Punjab Kings finished the IPL 2022 with 14 points and at the sixth position while SRH finished eighth with 12 points. 

Brief Scorecard: 

Sunrisers Hyderabad - 157/8 (Abhishek Sharma - 43; Harpreet Brar - 3/26)
Punjab Kings 160/5 in 15.1 overs (Liam Livingstone - 49*; Fazalhaq Farooqi - 2/32)