No contest, once again, as the Sunrisers beat David Miller’s Kings XI by five wickets with two overs remaining.
It was their fourth loss in five games and they are firmly embedded at the foot of the table.
Offered a total of 144 to win, the Sunrisers were untroubled once David Warner (51 off 34) and Shikhar Dhawan (45 off 44) had put on 90 for the first wicket in 10 overs. Kyle Abbott was especially punished, going for 34 off three overs.
The Kings were on the back foot from the moment Warner won the toss and sent them in to bat.
They needed a good start, but by the end of the powerplay, they had just 35 for the loss of their openers.
So more consolidation was needed, but that came to an early end when Moises Henriques snapped up Miller (9) and Glenn Maxwell (1) within five balls, leaving the Kings way off the pace at 65-4 after 10 overs. Miller now has 46 runs from five innings.
The Kings have the worst top-order in the competition. Their top four partnerships average just 20.50
Shaun Marsh battled his way to 40 off 34 and there was a useful contribution of 36 off 17 balls from Axar Patel.
Meanwhile, Mustafizur Rahman was slowly strangling the life out of the Kings. He ended with 2-9 off his four overs, the most economical bowling in this edition of the IPL.
He helped restrict the run rate to just 7.15. It was never going to be enough.
Photo: BCCI
