In a game that went to the wire, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) defeated Punjab Kings (PBKS) by 2 runs in the 23rd match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 at the PCA Stadium on Tuesday, 9 April.
Despite Shashank Singh's fiery innings of 46 runs off 25 balls, the Shikhar Dhawan-led side fell short, posting a total of 180 runs with the loss of 6 wickets while chasing a target of 183 runs.
Early Blows for PBKS
As PBKS began the chase, SRH skipper made an early impact, removing PBKS opener Jonny Bairstow for a duck in the second over. In the very next over, Bhuvneshwar Kumar struck again, dismissing Prabhsimran Singh for just four runs. Bhuvneshwar continued his dominance in the fifth over, snaring skipper Dhawan (14 off 16 balls) with a sharp stumping by Klaasen. Despite a brief resurgence led by Sikandar Raza and Sam Curran, the latter fell to T Natarajan in the 10th over after contributing 29 runs off 22 balls.
Sikandar Raza, after adding 28 runs to the team's total, was the next to depart, falling to Jaydev Unadkat's delivery. Following his dismissal, right-handed batter Jitesh Sharma entered and showcased some powerful strokes before being dismissed for 19 runs off 11 balls by Nitish Reddy in the 16th over.
Shashank Singh, At It, Again
Shashank Singh scored 46 runs off 25 balls.
Image: BCCI
PBKS' previous match standout, number 6 batsman Shashank Singh, once again showcased his resilience by scoring 46 runs off 25 balls, including 6 fours and a maximum. Despite his valiant effort, it wasn't enough to secure a victory for his team. Batting alongside him was Ashutosh Sharma, who contributed 33 runs off 15 balls.
Nitish Reddy's First Innings Heroics
Earlier, Nitish Kumar Reddy hammered a 37-ball 64 and raised 50 runs off 18 balls for the sixth wicket partnership with Abdul Samad but Arshdeep Singh's four-fer pegged back Sunrisers Hyderabad as they managed 182/9.
The 20-year-old Reddy hammered his maiden half-century in IPL off 32 balls and rescued them from 100/5 to reach a good total after Punjab Kings skipper Shikhar Dhawan won the toss and elected to field first.
Arshdeep turned out to be the thorn in the side for SRH, claiming two wickets in an over twice, once at the start and again in the death overs as he finished with 4-29 as PBKS.
Menacing Arshdeep
SRH's hopes of posting a big score depended on Head and Abhishek Sharma but on Tuesday, both of them failed to put up a big score. Head struck a couple of good boundaries but was out for 21 (15 balls) off Arshdeep Singh.
It became 27/2 three balls later as the left-handed Arshdeep had Aiden Markram edging behind to Jitesh Sharma for a two-ball duck.
Abhishek Sharma tried to hit out against the disciplined bowling and struck Sam Curran for a couple of boundaries but was out off the last ball of the fifth over and SRH were down to 39/3. They brought in Rahul Tripathi as an Impact Substitute in place of Travis Head but he too could not make a real impact, getting out for 11 off 14 balls. And when Heinrich Klaasen got out for nine, SRH were 100/5 and staring at a poor score.
Last Over Drama
SRH found a hero in the 20-year-old Nitish Kumar Reddy, who hammered a 37-ball 64 to give some respectability to their score. He found a good partner in Abdul Samad, who played a nice cameo, scoring a 12-ball 25, as they raised 50 runs off 18 balls and raised SRH's hopes of reaching a big total.
Left-handed pacer Arshdeep Singh delivered brilliantly, claiming two wickets in an over against SRH. He dismissed Samad by bowling wide outside off, caught by Harshal Patel at deep point. Then, Reddy fell to Arshdeep's low full toss, caught by Rabada at long-off. Rabada continued the onslaught by dismissing Pat Cummins in the next over. Despite Arshdeep conceding 15 runs, including a four and six by Shahbaz Ahmed, Sam Curran got Bhuvneshwar Kumar out. The innings concluded dramatically with Harshal Patel's catch at long-on off Jaydev Unadkat's slower delivery.
With inputs from IANS.
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