IPL 2023: Dhawan hits 99 not out but Markande’s 4-15 restrict PBKS to 143/9

Skipper Shikhar Dhawan played an extraordinary lone hand for Punjab Kings, smashing an unbeaten 99 as he batted through the innings but a four-fer by debutant leggie Mayank Markande saw Sunrisers Hyderabad restricting them to a below-par 143-9 in 20 overs.

PBKS lost wickets in quick succession and landed in a precarious situation at 88/9 before Dhawan launched a brilliant rearguard assault to pull them through to a respectable total. Dhawan batted through the innings to give his side a decent score.

At one time, it looked like Punjab may not even reach 100, but Dhawan had other ideas as he went after the bowling, shielding last-man Mohit Rathee (1 not out) to add 55 runs for the last-wicket partnership off 31 deliveries.

Dhawan blasted 12 boundaries and five sixes during his sensational innings and ended up scoring 69.2% of his team’s runs. This is the second-highest per cent after Brendon McCullum blazed to 158 out of KKR’s total of 222 (71.2%) in the first match in IPL history in 2008.

Markande, making his debut for Sunrisers Hyderabad, was the pick of the SRH bowlers as he claimed the wickets of Sam Curran (22), Shahrukh Khan (5), Rahul Chahar (0) and Nathan Ellis (0), bowling to a superb line and length and mixing up his googlies and leg-spinners superbly as keep the batters guessing.

Marco Jansen claimed 2-16 while Umran Malik ended with 2-32 as they set up Sunrisers Hyderabad for a modest chase.

Punjab Kings, who came into the match with two wins from two matches, got off to a dismal start when Sunrisers Hyderabad’s experienced medium pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar trapped Prabhsimran Singh in front off the first delivery of the match.