Death bowling resurgence at the heart of KXIP's spectacular heist

Losing a T20 game from less than run-a-ball equation is unfathomable in this day and age of mad-cap hitting and deep batting orders. But pressure in a cut-throat competition like the IPL does funny things. Even in a seemingly simple chase. Ask Sunrisers Hyderabad, who will take a while to process the 12-run defeat at the hands of Kings XI Punjab despite being in the driver's seat for a good 36 overs of the contest.

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Before taking the field, both SRH and KXIP would have had an eye on the earlier game of Saturday's double-header, where Kolkata Knight Riders decimated table-toppers Delhi Capitals for two points to tighten their grip on the fourth spot, while putting even more pressure on these two by making the evening fixture a virtual four pointer. So it didn't help their cause when, after being put in to bat, Punjab's batting collapsed spectacularly around Nicholas Pooran and in return, David Warner and Jonny Bairstow were quick off the blocks. However, sitting pretty at 100/3 at the start of the death overs with a rather modest target of 127 well within their sights, SRH crumbled against some sharply calculated bowling plans of the KL Rahul-led side, executed to perfection by unlikely bowling heroes, Chris Jordan and Arshdeep Singh.

For the better part of their IPL 2020 campaign so far, Punjab had shown the unforgivable tendency to lose steam in the death overs. With even the likes of Mohammad Shami, Sheldon Cottrell and Jordan not being able to execute the best laid out plans, KXIP often found themselves on the wrong side of the results either due to their inability to tie the opposition down or because they were left to chase unreasonable totals with a thin batting order.

The expensive overs game after game forced the management to make some tough calls, paving way for left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh's inclusion in the side against the same opposition in the reverse fixture. The 21-year-old made an immediate impression with both his variations and his consistency. KXIP persisted with him, and knowing that Glenn Maxwell's offspin may not be the best move against the likes of David Warner and Jonny Bairstow, brought back their death-overs specialist Jordan to give themselves more options in this contest.

It was 10 games in the making but things finally started to look up in their last outing where Shami led the way in restricting Delhi Capitals to a sub-par score as he dished out yorker after yorker in his final two. However, with a small score to defend tonight, Rahul decided to bowl his best bowler out by the ninth over for there was no use saving Shami for later if SRH were let off the hook. The move paid off with Shami getting the better of Abdul Samad, who was promoted up the order by SRH knowing well the massive favour it would do to their net run rate should they be able to close out the chase early. However, that meant KXIP were left to trust Arshdeep and Jordan for death overs duties, and their knowledge of boundary lengths.

Giving away only 13 in his four overs leading up to the 16th, Ravi Bishnoi had done exceedingly well to tie SRH's feet. At the time-out, the plans were spelled out to the two pacers, and reiterated by the leadership group at the end of each over. With the pitch having slowed down as the game progressed, Arshdeep expertly took the pace off the ball to make it further difficult for the batsman to dispatch it. He dug it into the wicket and made the batsmen target the longer boundary, producing a flurry of wickets in the process as the pressure mounted along with the asking rate.

Jordan went with his trusted yorkers, but erred off just the second ball. Luckily there, Manish Pandey's release shot over the bowler's head met a sprinting, jumping J Suchith. The substitute fielder covered a fair distance running from his position at long-on and then timed his jump to perfection to put Pandey out of his misery. The spectacular piece of fielding - that catch plucked literally out of thin air - was enough to rejuvenate the KXIP camp.

Arshdeep got a rattled Vijay Shankar - the other half of the successful pair for SRH from the victory over Rajasthan Royals - in the following over, right after a throw hit him flush on the head to shake his concentration. The two key wickets and economical overs brought the equation down to 17 off 12, but vitally exposed SRH's shaky lower order.

In the 19th, Jordan bowled six full balls just outside off, and both Jason Holder and Rashid Khan offered regulation catches to men in the cover region, guilty of going for glory shots off successive deliveries. Left with a generous 14 to defend off the final over on the sluggish surface, Arshdeep too nailed the brief as he dug it short and into the body, trying to get the batsman to hit it to the leg side. Both Sandeep Sharma and Priyam Garg mishit and holed out as SRH lost two more off successive deliveries in an over. A run out of the last man sealed the deal for KXIP with a ball to spare as they pulled off a spectacular heist. SRH had gone from 52/0 at the end of powerplay to 114 all out, losing their last seven for just 14 runs to concede the points that were theirs for the taking.

"The plan was to get an extra wicket there, at that point. And Shami got us the wicket of Abdul Samad. So the move paid off for us," Arshdeep said KXIP's decision to bowl out the experienced pacer early. "It was really good that Rahul bhai trusted us, me and CJ [Jordan], for the death overs and we could get the wickets for the team.

"The plan was to use the conditions and [make them hit to the] bigger side, and bowl slower balls. And it paid off for us. We were clear with our plans from ball one. CJ was bowling from the end where the leg side boundary was small, so he was going for the yorkers. And I was bowling with the leg side as the bigger boundary, so I was digging it in and bowling the slow balls. CJ did his part really well, I appreciate his execution [since] it gave me a lot of runs to play with [in the final over]," Arshedeep added. .

Adjudged Man of the Match for his 3 for 17 and a terrific comeback performance overall, Jordan in turn heaped praise on his younger partner. "Arshdeep has been brilliant since he's come in, he's brought a free mind, free spirit. He's not that experienced and I think that's helped, because he's just backed himself. In the crucial moments, I just try to keep him calm, and play a support role as much as possible."

In the first half of the season, KXIP had found newer ways to lose games they were well in control of for the better part of the 40 overs. Each more frustrating than the previous. Now, at the business end of the tournament, they're finding newer ways to win the games nobody gave them a shot at. Each more incredible than the previous. They've peaked late but certainly at the right time to ensure their fate stays in their own hands heading into the final week of the league stages. At least KL Rahul ain't complaining.

The skipper put it down to the hard work done by the coaches and the support staff behind the scenes to make the team more resilient despite a string of losses upfront. "Yes we are making [winning] a habit [now]. In the first half we somehow couldn't make this a habit. I am just speechless right now, to be honest. Very happy with the show from the boys," Rahul said at the presentation ceremony.

"The work done is always behind the scenes, not just the players, but the support staff. You can't change much in a player in two months but you can always make them mentally better and that's what coach Kumble, Andy, Charl, Jonty and Wasim have done. Even when we were sitting on the bottom of the table we didn't panic. We kept scrapping and we're really happy that the wins are coming.

"After me and Mandeep [Singh] played the first over itself we knew it wasn't going to be a high-scoring pitch. We were thinking 160-170. The openers have the freedom to score and I think that's what happened with SRH as well. I was hoping we didn't give anything above 40 in the first six, so I was positive and the team was positive. I knew we could pull things back as we have two leggies. We sat down and thought about the things that the bowlers would need in conditions like these and it's good to see the work paying off," he signed off.
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