Tripathi and Markande put Sunrisers on the board in IPL 2023

Shikhar Dhawan watched nine wickets tumble around him, but he stood out amid the rubble, his unbeaten 99 taking Punjab Kings to a respectable 143 for 9. That total looked even more respectable when Sunrisers lost their openers Harry Brook and Mayank Agarwal early with the slower balls gripping the Hyderabad surface.

But Rahul Tripathi rose above the conditions to score a sprightly half-century and give Sunrisers their first victory of the season. He contributed 63 in an unbroken 100-run stand off 52 balls with his captain Aiden Markram to help ice the chase and hand Kings their first defeat of the season.

On Friday, Sunrisers' seamers were neutralised on a black-soil turner. Two days later, Bhuvneshwar and co. were on the money from the get-go on a pace-friendly red-soil Hyderabad track. Bhuvneshwar struck first ball to trap Prabhsimran Singh lbw for a duck.

Much like Bhuvneshwar, Jansen, picked ahead of legspinner Adil Rashid, exploited the early swing on offer. The left-arm seamer struck with his second legal ball to pin IPL debutant Matt Short lbw for 1. He won another lbw appeal from umpire Bruce Oxenford next ball, but Jitesh Sharma overturned the on-field decision on review. Jitesh managed four before Jansen had him chipping a drive to mid-off in his next over. T Natarajan also found swing in the powerplay as Sunrisers' seam attack thrived at home.

Once the early movement disappeared for the seamers, Dhawan took some trips down the pitch and hit them over the top. However, at the other end, legspinner Mayank Markande, who was playing his first game for Sunrisers, tore through the middle and lower order with his stock ball and the wrong'un. The innings was going so badly pear shaped that Kings had to Impact Sub a batter for a batter, bringing Sikandar Raza in for the already dismissed Prabhsimran, but it didn't really help matters. Together the two players contributed 5 runs off 7 balls

Markande, meanwhile, came away with figures of 4 for 15 in his four overs. Dhawan quietly played him out, but laid into Natarajan and Umran Malik, taking 61 off 31 balls from them. He reached his fifty off 42 balls by launching Natarajan over midwicket for six and then went 6,4,6 against Malik in the 18th over. Dhawan was dropped three times along the way, but he carried on until the end of the innings. He contributed 52 in an unbroken 55-run partnership for a last wicket with debutant Mohit Rathee - an IPL record.

Dhawan's 69.2 was the second-highest percentage of runs scored in a completed IPL innings that went 20 overs or ended with a team all out. It was second only to Brendon McCullum in the first match of the IPL, where he shellacked 158 out of KKR's total of 222 (71.2%).

Sunrisers decided to shake up their batting line-up by pairing up Agarwal with Brook at the top. Brook seemed comfortable with pace on the ball, but when Arshdeep Singh cut it down to 117kph and bowled a knuckle ball, he was bowled through the gate for 13 off 14. Then, when Agarwal dared to sweep Rahul Chahar off the stumps, he spliced a catch to long-on, leaving Sunrisers at 45 for 2 in the ninth over.

Tripathi and Markram then got together to settle the innings. When Chahar darted it quicker and flatter outside off, Tripathi used the pace to glide the ball behind point. When Chahar slowed his pace down and tossed up his legbreaks, Tripathi stretched out to either drive him inside out over extra cover or sweep him over midwicket. He treated Rathee with even more disdain, smashing him for two sixes and two fours in eight balls.

Tripathi's high intent and execution allowed Markram to sit back and tap the ball into the gaps. Fittingly, it was Tripathi who finished the game for Sunrisers with eight wickets and almost three overs to spare.