Hyderabad’s Siraj sizzles with a four-wicket haul, curtails Sunrisers to 153 against Gujarat Titans

Local hero Siraj struck the first blow to induce Travis Head (8) to flick a full-length ball straight to mid-wicket of the sixth ball of the innings

Hyderabad: Mohammed Siraj’s fiery bowling performance (4-0-17-4) ensured that the expected fireworks from the explosive batting line-up never really came off as the home team, put into bat, set a modest target of 153 for Gujarat Titans in the IPL league match at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium here on Sunday.

Local hero Siraj struck the first blow to induce Travis Head (8) to flick a full-length ball straight to mid-wicket of the sixth ball of the innings.

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Another southpaw, Ishan Kishan, who walked to the middle with a lot of expectations, hit three fours off pacer Ishant Sharma’s second over, including over extra-cover to signal a warning note.

In desperation for another breakthrough, Gujarat captain Shubman Gill gave Siraj his third straight over and the bowler didn’t disappoint, forcing Abhishek Sharma (18, 16b, 4×4) hit again a full-length ball on leg-stump, straight to mid-on to make it 38 for two in 4.4 overs. This was Siraj’s 100th wicket in IPL.

Sunrisers scored 45 for two in the power-play, not the kind of start they should have looked for sure.

Then, it was the turn of the pacer Prasidh Krishna to send back Ishan Kishan (17, 14b, 2×4), who mistimed a pull of a short ball straight to the fielder in the deep to make it 50 for three in 7.2 overs.

That there was no boundary in six overs between the 4th and 10th over was a tribute to the way the Titans had the batters in a spot. And the first six of the innings, hit by Heinrich Klaasen over long-on off leggie Rashid Khan, came after 76 balls!

But, soon left-arm spinner Sai Kishore saw Klaasen (27, 19b, 2×4, 1×6) miss the line in his attempt to pull to be bowled to make it 100 for four in 13.5 overs.

Kishore struck another huge blow in his next over, forcing the not-so-fluent Nitish Kumar Reddy (31, 34b, 3×4) to swing one straight to the fielder in the deep (105/5 in 15.1 overs).

Some lusty blows by captain Pat Cummins (……) propped the total in the final over off Ishant Sharma, who was disappointing (4-0-53-0).

The scores: Sunrisers Hyderabad 152/8 in 20 overs (Nitish Kumar Reddy 31, Mohammed Siraj 4/17, Prasidh Krishna 2/25, Sai Kishore 2/24) vs Gujarat Titans.