Some commendable individual performances were on display for SunRisers Hyderabad, but Punjab Kings edged us in New Chandigarh on Saturday. We batted first in this contest and our openers provided us with a commanding start. Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head took full control in the powerplay in a way only they could’ve. After a slightly cautious start in the opening two overs, the Travishek duo went berserk to give us an ideal start. Abhishek smashed 24 runs off the third over and Travis joined the party next over, where we picked up 16 runs. Abhishek went all guns blazing in the fifth over, smashing four sixes off Vijaykumar Vyshak and Travis’ exploits got us another 21 runs in the sixth. We registered 105 runs in the powerplay, making it the third instance of this destructive pair scoring 100+ runs in the first six overs. No other pair in the IPL has done so more than once. Skipper Ishan Kishan, Heinrich Klaasen and Aniket Verma got some vital runs as we finished with 219 runs in 20 overs. Despite not getting an ideal start with the ball in the second innings, our bowling unit continued to fight hard until the very end. Leading this charge was Shivang Kumar, who took three wickets and looked threatening every time he came on to bowl. He dismissed Punjab’s top three batters and kept us in the match for the longest part. Harsh Dubey too chipped in with a good spell, returning with one wicket. Punjab Kings chased the total in 18.5 overs and took the two points. Despite not getting the ideal result, there are plenty of positives for us to bank on, especially the form of our young bowling core. We will be heading to Hyderabad next for a crucial home leg, where we will play three games on the trot. First up, it will be the Rajasthan Royals on Monday. Brief Scores: SunRisers Hyderabad 219/6 in 20 overs (Abhishek Sharma 74, Heinrich Klaasen 39, Travis Head 38) lost to Punjab Kings 223/5 in 18.5 overs (Shivang Kumar 3/33, Harsh Dubey 1/38)