Young SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) pacer Umran Malik has put on an exciting display of fast bowling ever since his Indian Premier League (IPL) debut last year. This year too, he was among the few positives for SRH as they got off to a slow start in IPL 2022. In their win against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Friday, he put on a brilliant display of raw pace, but also added good line and lengths to help restrict the opposition to 175/8. He picked two wickets and gave away just 27 runs in his four overs, and would be especially pleased with how he got rid of KKR captain Shreyas Iyer.
Iyer was struggling against his pace as Malik peppered him with some good short-pitched deliveries. However, it was a Yorker, fired in at nearly 149 kmph, that did the job as Iyer was unable to block it out and had to depart for 28 off 25.
The delivery had Dale Steyn - one of the greatest exponents of pace bowling - to jump out of his seat in the SRH dugout and hug Muttiah Muralitharan in excitement.
Watch: Umran Malik's yorker that had Dale Steyn thrilled
In a recent Twitter Q&A, SRH fast bowling coach Steyn had praised Umran Malik and revealed his advice for the youngster.
"Never lose pace. Anyone can bowl 130/135. But yes, some variety in his skills will take him a long way forward," Steyn had tweeted.
Malik also got the wicket of Sheldon Jackson with a short delivery that the wicketkeeper-batter top-edged to T Natarajan at fine leg.
The chase of 176 was made simple by Rahul Tripathi and Aiden Markram, despite SRH losing Abhishek Sharma and Kane Williamson in the Powerplay.
The two put on a 94-run partnership to take the game away from KKR.
Tripathi dominated that partnership, smashing 71 off 37 deliveries. The SRH No.3 hit four fours and six sixes as he took the attack to the KKR bowlers, with Varun Chakravarthy especially bearing the brunt of it.
Even after Tripathi fell to Andre Russell, Markram saw his team home, with a fine unbeaten 68 off 36 deliveries. The South African slammed six fours and four sixes as he hit his second half-century of the season.
SRH cruised to victory, finishing the match with more than two overs to spare.