IPL 9: Sunrisers Hyderabad all but through, Kings XI Punjab eliminated

Mohali Sunrisers Hyderabad produced a solid batting performance to beat Kings XI Punjab by seven wickets and virtually secure their place in the knockout stage of the ongoing Indian Premier League here todayChasing a challenging 180 for win skipper David Warner led from the front scoring 52 off 41 balls while Yuvraj Singh made unbeaten 42 off just 24 deliveries as Sunrisers comfortably overwhelmed the target reaching 183 for three in 194 oversYuvraj Singh plays a shot enroute his matchwinning innings against Kings XI Punjab Pic PTIWith this win Sunrisers are all but through to the knockouts and are currently atop the standings with 16 points from 12 games The loss means Kings XI became the second team after Rising Pune Supergiants to be eliminatedEarlier Hashim Amla smashed a quickfire 96 off just 56 deliveries to help Kings XI post 179 for four after Murali Vijay won the toss and elected to bat But Sunrisers looked in total control throughout the chase with Warner and Shikhar Dhawan 25 off 22 balls puttingon 68 runs in eight overs for the opening standA Mohit Sharma direct throw from longon cut short the opening partnership with Dhawan falling short off the creaseby a margin at the nonstrikers endBut Warner who brought up his 50 in 38 balls continued to build up the innings along with Deepak Hooda who made 34 off 22 deliveries with the help of three fours and one sixLeftarm spinner Axar Patel gave Kings XI the crucial breakthrough of Warner in the 13th over when the Australian lefthander was dismissed hit wicket as he went far too deep inside his crease while trying to play a shot At 972 and needing 83 off 47 balls Yuvraj joined Hooda at the creaseWith Sunrisers needing 50 runs in the last five overs Hooda smashed Marcus Stoinis for two boundaries to bring down the equationHowever Hooda departed in a bid to accelerate when he lobbed a Sandeep Sharma delivery to David Miller at deep midwicketBut that was all Kings XI bowlers could manage as from there on it was all Yuvraj show In the company of Ben Cutting 18 not out off 11 Yuvraj shared 41 runs off the final four overs to gude Sunrisers homeEarlier Amla was a treat to watch as he tore apart the famed Sunrisers bowling attack He srruck 14 boundaries and two sixes during his knockAmla got into the act from the second ball of the innings when he hit Bhuvneshwar Kumar for a four He then came down heavily on veteran Ashish Nehra hitting the leftarm pacer for three fours in his first over and then followed ii up with two hits over the fence in the bowlers next overAmla who brought up his 50 in just 30 balls did not spare a single Sunrisers bowler including young pace sensation Mustafizur RahmanTo add to Sunrisers woes had to pull out midway through his third over because of an injury to his right leg and his overs were later completed by Ben CuttingThe 33yearold South African who had failed to make an impact in the last two games fell to medium pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the final over when he looked to hit over longoff but could not get enough bat and was caught by David WarnerElecting to bat Amla and skipper Murali Vijay 6 made a steady start for Kings XI before the latter fell at the team score of 33 in 42 oversVijay was foxed by Mustafizur with slower ball that went straight to Warner at midoff Wriddhiman Saha 27 of 23 balls who came in afterVijays fall and Amla shared 54 runs for the second wicket before Moises Henriques provided the second breakthrough whenhe had Saha caught by Deepak HoodaGurkeerat Singh 27 of 20 balls then was bowled by Bhuvneshwar David Miller 20 not out off 9 used his long handle to great effect towards the end hitting two boundaries and six of the last ball of the inningsBhuvneshwar was the most successful bowler for Sunrisers returning with figures of 40322 while Rahman had figures of 40321