New Delhi: Blistering knock of 49* runs by Liam Livingstone and a quick 19 by Jitesh Sharma helped Punjab Kings to register a five wickets victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad in the last league match of IPL 2022 here at Wankhede Stadium on Sunday. Liam Livingstone smashed 49 and top-scored for Punjab Kings, while Shikhar Dhawan and Jitesh Sharma score 39 and 19 respectively. For SRH, Fazalhaq Farooqi bagged two wickets, Jagadeesha Suchith and Washington Sundar settled for one wicket each.
Chasing 158, Punjab Kings got off to a stunning start, the opening duo of Jonny Bairstow and Shikhar Dhawan started their innings by trashing SRH bowlers all around the ground to gather 28 runs without the loss in under three overs.
But the opening duo could not stand long as Bairstow fell prey to Fazalhaq Farooqi's delivery after scoring 23 runs. This wicket brought Shahrukh Khan to the crease and he smashed a brilliant six to the Bhuvneshwar Kumar's delivery.
The duo of Dhawan and Khan anchored the great partnership for PBKS as they took their team's score to 66-1. In the seventh over of the innings, Umran Malik removed Shahrukh Khan.
Punjab skipper Mayank Agarwal then came to bat but could not do much he handed a catch to Jagadeesha Suchith off Washington Sundar's delivery. At that stage, Punjab needed a great partnership to win the match. Stra batter of Punjab then Liam Livingstone came to bat and opened his tally with a big six. In the next over Livingstone struck two back to back sixes to Umran Malik's delivery to gather 15 runs.
The pair of Livingstone and Dhawan took their team's score beyond 100-runs in the 11th over of the innings. After a brilliant partnership stand of 41 runs, Dhawan was bowled by Fazalhaq Farooqi, leaving PBKS's core at 112/4.
Jitesh Sharma then came to the crease and smashed two fours in the over of Farooqi. Sharma was trying to anchor the PBKS innings, while Livingstone was playing an aggressive game. Sharma continued his blistering form in the next over too as he smashed one four and one six. Jagadeesha Suchith ended a quick inning of Sharma and sent him back to the pavilion.
The debutant Prerak Mankad then came to bat. Livingstone hammered Romario Shepherd for 23 and the equation of the chase went down to 2 runs in 30 balls. Mankad finished the match with a brilliant four as they chased down the target with 29 balls remaining.
Earlier, tight bowling by Punjab Kings, led by Harpreet Brar and Nathan Ellis's three-wicket haul respectively helped PBKS restrict Sunrisers Hyderabad's total at 157/8.