kl rahul reacts in punjab win

Picture Credit: Twitter/IPL

While one would usually expect a high-scoring contest at the Sharjah Cricket Ground given the size of the boundary and the history of the venue, Punjab Kings and SunRisers Hyderabad played a low-scoring thriller at the venue on Saturday. While it was SunRisers Hyderabad who had opted to field first after winning the toss and it seemed like they had made the right decision after they restricted the opposition to just 125/7, in the end, they fell 5 runs short despite Jason Holder's late heroics.

The result has more or less confirmed that Hyderabad won't be making an entry into the Playoffs while Punjab still remain alive in the race courtesy of a win on Saturday. Aiden Markram and KL Rahul were among the top run-scorers for Punjab with scores of 25 and 21 respectively. It was Holder for Hyderabad who had a fantastic day out in the middle as he registered his best ever IPL figures (3/19).

In response, Hyderabad's marquee batters- the likes of David Warner, Kane Williamson and Manish Pandey- failed to make a significant contribution yet again as Hyderabad's chase appeared to go off track completely. However, a counterattacking effort led by Holder again as he also managed to register his highest score with the bat in the competition- 47* off 29 including 5 sixes could not help his team cross the line.

Wriddhiman Saha was the other batter who showed some resolve and scored 31 but was, unfortunately, the victim of a run-out with Holder at the other end.

Ravi Bishnoi and Mohammed Shami were outstanding with the ball for Punjab as they picked up 5 wickets between themselves for just 38 runs. Punjab had gone with a new-look lineup with Chris Gayle coming into the lineup and Nathan Ellis making his IPL debut. While Gayle was dismissed quickly, Ellis was entrusted with the responsibility of defending 17 runs in the last 6 balls which he managed successfully in the end.

Post the performance, netizens have come up with various memes taking a dig at Punjab's love affair with last-ball finishes while also criticising SRH for their poor performance this season.

Check out some of the most hilarious tweets here: