Manish Pandey fifty helps Sunrisers Hyderabad reach 132/6 vs Kings XI Punjab

Manish Pandey scored his second fifty in the 2018 Indian Premier League but Sunrisers Hyderabad could manage just 132/6 against Kings XI Punjab at Uppal.

Manish Pandey, Sunrisers Hyderabad’s costliest player at Rs 11 crore, scored a crucial half-century under pressure against Kings XI Punjab to help Sunrisers Hyderabad reach 132/6 in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018 contest at Uppal on Thursday. (SRH vs KXIP updates)

Manish Pandey hit his second fifty of the 2018 Indian Premier League but Sunrisers Hyderabad managed just 132/6 against Kings XI Punjab. (BCCI)

His completed his half-century in 48 balls. The innings was laden with three fours and one six. But the value of the knock cannot be gauged by the number of boundaries. (SRH vs KXIP scorecard)

Pandey came to bat after Sunrisers Hyderabad openers Kane Williamson and Shikhar Dhawan departed inside the first three overs. Then he saw Wriddhiman Saha get out.

With the hosts reeling at 27/3, he stitched a 52-run stand with Shakib Al Hasan in 54 balls. He even got lucky twice as he was first dropped by Andrew Tye in the fifth over off Ankit Rajpoot and then was dropped by Mayank Agarwal at deep mid-wicket off Tye.

Together they relied on singles and doubles as Sunrisers did not lose any more wicket till the 14th over.

It was only after Shakib departed that the upped the ante. He went after Ravichandran Ashwin in the 16th over and hit the match’s first six.

The right-hander went to score his half-century in the 19th over before he was bowled by Ankit Rajpoot for 54. Thanks to Pandey’s efforts, Sunrisers Hyderabad managed to reach 132/6 despite Rajpoot’s 5/14.