Punjab Kings outclassed Sunrisers Hyderabad by five wickets in the last IPL group stage fixture at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday.
PBKS took the sixth spot, while SRH — with six losses in its last seven outings — finished eighth.
Chasing 158, Kings cruised home on the back of an explosive knock from Liam Livingstone (49 n.o., 22b, 2x4, 5x6). The Englishman’s assault on the express Umran Malik provided exciting fare. With sixes over extra cover and midwicket, Livingstone clearly won this battle.
Opener Jonny Bairstow received a life when Umran put down an absolute sitter. The damage was minimal, however, as the Englishman was cleaned up by Afghanistan fast bowler Fazalhaq Farooqi soon after. The England batter engaged in some verbal jousting with the opponents as he walked off the park.
After electing to bat, Sunrisers struggled to find rhythm and finished with a sub-par total. Left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar broke the back of the Hyderabad batting with three wickets.
Rahul Tripathi (20, 18b, 1x4, 1x6) was his first victim, a mistimed sweep finding Dhawan at short fine-leg. Abhishek Sharma (43, 32b, 5x4, 2x6) was taken well by Livingstone at long-on.
Harpreet saved his best for South African Aiden Markram (21, 17b, 2x4), drawing him out with flight and beating the bat with turn. Harpreet, who recorded his best figures for this season, proved his worth by dismissing three settled batters.
Washington Sundar (25, 19b, 3x4, 1x6) and Romario Shepherd (26, 15b, 2x4, 2x6) put on 58 runs for the sixth wicket. Australian Nathan Ellis, playing his second match of the season, picked up two wickets in the final over.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar led Sunrisers in the absence of the unavailable Kane Williamson.
