SRH vs GT IPL 0222 | Turning point of the match: SRH bowling

Despite an atrocious opening over from the vastly experienced Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who sent down three wides, two of them racing to the boundary, Sunrisers Hyderabad bowlers did well to restrict Gujarat Titans to 162 for seven.

The same Kumar, who conceded 17 runs in his first over, came back well in his last over, the 19^th of the innings, giving only seven runs even when their fifth wicket pair of the big-hitting Abhinav Manohar and well-set Hardik Pandya were in the middle.

And, this inspired left-arm pacer T Natarajan to bowl a tidy last over in which he gave away only seven runs. In the combined last two overs, SRH gave away only 14 runs.

It was not only the last two overs that SRH bowled well. They bowled consistently well throughout from the second over to the 20^th to contain Titans, who were yet to be defeated before the start of the match, to a total that was achievable.

The total was achieved comfortably with SRH captain Kane Williamson leading the way with a 57 while the finishing touches were provided by Nicholas Pooran (34 not out) as SRH won with five deliveries to spare.

Full credit to SRH bowling with the off-spinner Washington Sundar being the most economical, though he was not given his full quota of four overs. He was miserly in his three overs, going for only 14 runs and had a catch dropped in his first over, Matthew Wade reverse sweeping him straight to backward point, where Abhishek Sharma let the ball pass through his stretched hands.

You take the first over out of the equation and SRH conceded only 34 and took two wickets in the next five overs as Titans posted 51 for two in the Power Play.

In the next passage of play between the seventh and 15^th overs, Sunrisers conceded only 67 runs and took two more wickets. Sundar was his usual tidy self while pacer Umran Malik was clocking consistently 145kmph-plus, even touching 150kmph-plus on the odd occasion. Titans did not take their chances against the Sunrisers bowlers and played on the merit of the ball as they reached 100 in only the 13^th over.

Titans captain Hardik Pandya, batting at No 4, was not allowed to bat freely. On the odd occasions, he came up with crisp shots, the wristy drive off his toes against Malik past mid-on was a treat to the eyes.

SRH captain Kane Williamson gave his bowlers short spells so that Pandya and his fifth-wicket partner Abhinav Manohar did not settle down to one particular bowler. With runs hard to come by, Manohar took his chances, the ball racing to the boundary off thick edges. Manohar was dropped two times in the 19^th over by Kumar, first by Rahul Tripathi at long-off, then by Kumar himself running towards mid-wicket when three other fielders from the boundary line were converging. In only the previous over, sent down by Natarajan, Manohar had a life when Markram dropped another skier.

SRH bowlers, in the last five overs, gave away only 44 runs. It could have been much more. But such was the disciplined effort of Sunrisers bowlers on the day.