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Warner, Henriques keep IPL dream alive

A brilliant display from the new Test call-up helps Sunrisers Hyderabad surive their elimination final against Kolkata

Match in a tweet:  Moises Henriques' brilliant all-round display keeps Sunrisers in IPL hunt as they defend 162 to end season for Kolkata badly missing Andre Russell

The result: Sunrisers Hyderabad 8-162 beat the Kolkata Knight Riders 8-140 by 22 runs

The hero: Added to the Australia Test squad one day, IPL elimination final man of the match the next. Moises Henriques celebrated his inclusion for the Qantas Tour of Sri Lanka with a superb all-around performance to keep the Sunrisers in the hunt for their maiden IPL title. Batting at No.3 Henriques showed his class with the bat to make a crucial 31 from 21 balls. The New South Wales allrounder backed that up with an economical spell of bowling to claim 2-17 from three overs, including the prized wickets of in-form Yusuf Pathan and Suryakumar Yadav.  

Image Id: ~/media/50E1857D23744EAC8E484484AEEBC5AD Image Caption: Henriques in action with the bat // BCCI

The support cast: Veteran Yuvraj Singh was the shining light for the Sunrisers with the bat when they most needed it. The elegant left-hander was the only batsmen that looked completely comfortable against Kuldeep Yadav's left-arm unorthodox spin, hitting him for three fours and a six. Having eased his way to 20 in even time, Yuvraj upped the tempo with a series of savage pull-shots to score 24 from the next 10 balls. Yuvraj propelled the Sunrisers to a total with 44 from 30 that proved sufficient for their bowlers to defend. The wily veteran then capped of a fine night by running out Colin Munro with a direct hit from point with a bit of magic in the field. Bhuvneshwar Kumar also deserves a mention for his fine spell of 3-19, including 11 dot balls.

The consolation effort: For the last couple of years, Kuldeep Yadav has been learning all the tricks and trades of left-arm wrist spin bowling from Brad Hogg and tonight he used all those knowledge to topple Moises Henriques and David Warner in consecutive balls. First, Kuldeep’s slider forced Henriques to rush into his pull shot and skew it straight up in the air. Next ball, he’s lovely flighted googly, dipped on Warner and beat his attempted sweep to rattle the stumps.  The young spinner then claimed his third wicket when he had Ben Cutting, stumped for a golden duck, to finish with figures of 4-0-35-3.

The key moment:  You never want to drop a catch, but there are some batsmen you really do not want to drop. David Warner is one of those batsmen. The Sunrisers skipper had made 10 when he crunched one straight back at the bowler, Yusuf Pathan. The bowler got down to the chance but Warner had enough power behind the shot to make the catch too difficult for Yusuf to hold. Yusuf needed some attention for his poor fingers and wrist after the attempt and Warner would go onto to add a further 18 runs which, in context of the match, proved to be pivotal.

Image Id: ~/media/EA5A859B295F4888A5F29505AEBB259A Image Caption: Warner triumphed in his duel with Narine // BCCI

The duel:  Warner's battle against Sunil Narine has been intriguing, and sets up a fascinating showdown in the 50-over tri-series in the Caribbean after this tournament. Narine was all over the Australian in these teams' previous match-up but here the Aussie took the points.  Introduced in the sixth over with the fielding restrictions still in place, Narine persisted with a leg-stump attack to try and tempt Warner to hit across the line. It may have only lasted five balls but it was compelling. The Aussie dynamo was up to the challenge, and capitalised on a rare loose ball from Narine to clip a boundary off the first ball. Then, when Narine hit the awkward length and leg-stump line that had claimed Warner in the previous match, the Australian was quickly into position and whipped it off the back foot over midwicket. The pair will resume their rivalry in Guyana next week.

The Aussie Pack: Queenslander Ben Cutting was a surprise selection ahead of New Zealand's classy batsman Kane Williamson, with the Sunrisers opting for the all-round ability of the Brisbane Heat's big hitter. Before he could come in, Warner and Henriques shared an important 59 run stand to lay the foundation at the start.  Cutting won't want to see too many replays of his effort with the bat – coming in to slog for the 17th over, he was outsmarted by Kuldeep, who sent a googly wide and Cutting's air-swing saw him heading back to the dressing room, stumped first ball. The beauty of the allrounder is you've got two disciplines to rely on, and Cutting proved his worth with the ball, doing an exceptional job to tie down the Kolkata batsmen and claimed the huge scalp of the Kolkata skipper Gautam Gambhir, cramping him with a well-directed short ball. Cutting conceded just 14 runs in his three overs.

Image Id: ~/media/CEA68D49D96943B78C4869A8A0C48527 Image Caption: Cutting celebrates Gambhir's wicket // BCCI

The stat: This was the only second time this season in which David Warner was not the top scorer for the Sunrisers. Warner's 28 was bettered by Henriques (31) and Yuvraj (44).

The wash up: The season is over for the Kolkata Knight Riders. Australians Brad Hogg (4-142 in five matches) and Shaun Tait (an unplayed injury replacement for John Hastings) return home while Chris Lynn (25 runs in two matches) heads to the Caribbean Premier League. Kolkata were sitting pretty at the top of the table with two games to play but the injury to West Indies allrounder Andre Russell proved a telling blow to their finals aspirations.

Warner's Sunrisers, however, are on the up and now advance to Friday night's second Qualifying Final to face the Gujarat Lions. An advantage, however small, for the Sunrisers is that match will also be played in Delhi.