DUBAI, CMC – West Indies all-rounder Jason Holder almost singlehandedly helped Sunrisers Hyderabad end their losing streak in the Indian Premier League (IPL) yesterday, but they agonisingly fell five runs short against Punjab Kings.
Holder, whose shocking omission from the Windies 15-member squad for the ICC Twenty20 World Cup from October 17 to November 14 in the United Arab Emirates and Oman, drew ire from the man in the street to Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley gave Roger Harper’s selection panel a timely reminder with a fine all-round performance at the Sharjah International Cricket Stadium.
In the other match of a weekend double header at the Zayed Cricket Stadium, a quickfire knock from West Indies left-hander Shimron Hetmyer helped Delhi Capitals beat Rajasthan Royals by 33 runs.
In Sharjah: Holder gave evidence of what the West Indies may miss during the T20 World Cup when he led the Sunrisers bowling with a miserly 3-19 from his fours overs and struck five sixes in a thrilling 47 not out from 29 balls.
But his side failed to overhaul a target of 126 and slumped to their second successive loss since the League resumed last Sunday and eighth in nine matches, and out of contention for a place in the playoffs. Holder made batting on the slow pitch look easy with his lusty hitting, but none of the other batsmen could match his free-scoring and Sunrisers chase ran out of steam.
International pacer Mohammad Shami struck twice with the new ball to remove Australia left-hander David Warner for two and New Zealander Kane Williamson for one to hurt Sunrisers early in the chase. Sunrisers made only 20 in the powerplay – their lowest score for the period in the IPL – and never recovered.
Earlier, Holder struck twice in the powerplay, removing international pair of KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal, as the Kings made a steady start.
The two West Indies left-handers that followed failed to tee off and the Kings lost six wickets before passing 100.
Chris Gayle again failed to end the doubts about his batting and kept the debate raging about his place in the West Indies side for the T20 World Cup when Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan trapped him lbw for 14 and Nicholas Pooran made eight before he gave a tame return catch to Sandeep Sharma.
Small contributions of 13 from Deepak Hooda, 18 not out from Harpreet Brar and 12 from Nathan Ellis extended the Kings innings and got them just enough for a scrap.
In Abu Dhabi: Hetmyer scored a quickfire 28 off 18 balls and helped Capitals set the Royals 155 for victory.
The Royals’ chase was over early after they stumbled to 17 for three inside the first five overs and they needed an unbeaten 70 from their captain Sanju Samson to hold things together.
Mahipal Lomor scored 19 and was the only other Royals batsman to reach double figures and the Capitals returned to the top of the table with 16 points from eight wins in 10 matches.
Capitals were 21 for two inside the fifth over, and Iyer and captain Rishabh Pant joined forces engineer the rebuilding job.
The pair kept the scoreboard ticking, as the Capitals reached 66 for two after 10 overs, but they were dismissed within quick succession.
Capitals were 90 for four in the 14th over, and Hetmyer dominated a fifth wicket stand of 41 with Lalit Yadav to give their side a spark in the closing overs.
