In the 25th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) between SunRisers Hyderabad and Kings XI Punjab, Afgan spinner Rashid Khan produced a match-defining spell and guided his side to a crucial win.
Rashid Khan on Thursday took three wickets for 19 runs in his allotted four overs.
“Rashid Khan is the first leg spinner I have seen who bowls leg spin from the back of the hand like you would bowl a googly. He gets his fingers to do that. Fascinating!,” wrote Sanjay Manjrekar on the micro-blogging site Twitter.
” The @SunRisers can defend the undefendable. Rashid Khan is brilliant but the way Sid Kaul, Sandeep Sharma, Thampi exert and maintain pressure is fantastic. Great effort to defend this against Punjab #SRHvKXIP,” wrote veteran Indian cricketer Mohammed Kaif.
Rashid Khan is the first leg spinner I have seen who bowls leg spin from the back of the hand like you would bowl a googly. He gets his fingers to do that. Fascinating!
— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) April 26, 2018
The @SunRisers can defend the undefendable. Rashid Khan is brilliant but the way Sid Kaul, Sandeep Sharma, Thampi exert and maintain pressure is fantastic. Great effort to defend this against Punjab #SRHvKXIP
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) April 26, 2018
Rashid Khan is, well, simply brilliant!
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) April 26, 2018
You can’t predict what Rashid Khan or Mujeeb will bowl.
You can predict that Afghans must be so proud of their success in this IPL.
Super watching them.#SRHvKXIP— Sorabh Pant (@hankypanty) April 26, 2018
I can’t stop watching @rashidkhan_19 do his thing! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻#compulsiveviewing @StarSportsIndia #selectdugout
— Dean Jones (@ProfDeano) April 26, 2018
@rashidkhan_19 wreaking havoc as per usual!! 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻 @SunRisers @StarSportsIndia #IPL18
— Erin Holland (@erinvholland) April 26, 2018
Congratulations C-H-A-M-P-I-O-N-S
what a Victory….
What a team it has become…. Dey can even defend 90 runs…. Just Imagine power of Bowlers
Take a bow @SunRisers entyr Team#Afghanistan Superstar @rashidkhan_19 your inspiration to Millions RESPECT#SRHvKXIP #KXIPvSRH
— Rohit Jaiswal (@rohitjswl01) April 26, 2018
Star is always brighting nd ur star @rashidkhan_19 bhayi.. 🙌
Excellent from #OrangeArmy ur team effort nd proper planning.
— AB (@rinkubanote) April 27, 2018
Earlier, riding on wonder spinner Rashid Khan’s brilliant effort, SunRisers Hyderabad produced an inspired bowling display to eke out a fighting 13-run win over in-form Kings XI Punjab in a low-scoring IPL match.
Rashid (3/19) turned out to be the star for SunRisers once again as he along with Shakib (2/18) turned the tables around for the hosts in the middle overs after Manish Pandey’s fighting 54 propelled them to 132 for six.
Besides Rashid and Shakib, Basil Thampi (2/14) and Sandeep Sharma (2/17) also rose to the occasion for the home team.
Earlier, young Kings XI pacer Ankit Rajpoot (5/14) registered his career-best bowling figures to restrict SunRisers to the modest score.
-With PTI inputs.