Hyderabad: Sunrisers Hyderabad, led by their charismatic pacer Pat Cummins, defeated Rajasthan Royals by one run in a high scoring league game of the Indian Premier League at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad on Thursday.
Sunrisers Hyderabad first posted a challenging 201 for 3 in their allotted 20 overs and then restricted the opposition to 200/7 as they grabbed two crucial points. Pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar trapped Rovman Powell on the last ball when Rajasthan Royals needed two runs for an outright win.
Despite the loss, Rajasthan have maintained to stay atop the points table and have 16 points from 10 games. This was only their second loss of the season, while Sunrisers now are on the fourth spot with 12 points as the race for the play offs intensifies.
Live updates from the second innings
- Over 16-20 (200/7)
It was pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who reposed the faith shown by his skipper Pat Cummins. He held his nerve to dismiss an aggressive Rovman Powell and give his side a memorable win. Rajasthan needed two runs of the final ball, when Bhuvneshwar trapped Powell in front of the wickets and the on field umpire raised his finger. Powell did take a review but it went in vein as celebrations erupted in the SRH camp. The SRH pacer literally snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. Bhuvneshwar (3 for 41) played his part to perfection.
- Over 11-15 (157/3)
Both Jaiswal and Riyan Parag completed their fifties with a boundary in each in the 11th over. Bhuvneshwar was brought into the attack once again in the 12th over by the captain but this time he went for some runs as Jaiswal hit a six against his low full-toss on the second delivery while Parag tonked a boundary on the fourth ball of the over. However, Natrajan has been disciplined today and he got rid of Jaiswal via clean bowled. But, with the kind of strokes Parag is playing, he is likely to take the team team home if he stays at the crease till the end.
- Over 7-10 (100/2)
Both of the batters are heading towards their half-centuries and the partnership is looking dangerous now. They are not sparing deliveries where bowlers have missed their line and lengths. Not much of an explosion from the batters, but they are ensuring a run rate of 10 runs per over. The bowling side needs to get the breakthrough as soon as possible otherwise the partnership between Parag and Samson might take the game away from them.
- Over 0-6 (60/2)
Bhuvneshwar Kumar provided a brilliant start for SRH taking two wickets in the very first over. He first dismissed Buttler with a delivery coming back into the batter and he edged it behind the stumps. Bhuvneshwar displayed his vintage version on the penultimate ball with an inswinging delivery to Samson and shattered the stumps. However, the duo of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Riyan Parag then ensured that the wickets will fall anymore and they kept hitting boundaries and sixes in between. The duo has taken the team’s scoring rate to 10 RPO and going at this rate will be enough for the chasing side to script a victory.