Chennai: Sunrisers Hyderabad registered a victory over Rajasthan Royals on Friday in the Qualifier 2 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai. RR were chasing a target of 176 but they never got going in the chase despite Dhruv Jurel's resilient knock of unbeaten 56 runs. Shahbaz Ahmed picked three wickets for the bowling side and he played a key role in the SRH's 36-run victory.
Being put in to bat first, SRH Heinrich Klaasen was the highest run-getter for the batting side as he scored 50 runs from 34 deliveries. Rahul Tripathi scored 37 runs and contribution from the other batters helped team post 175/9 on the scoreboard. Trent Boult and Avesh Khan picked three wickets each.
Live Updates from the second innings
Only 37 runs from the last five overs when the stakes were high for the RR and that has resulted in a defeat for them. Dhruv Jurel was playing well but he was restricted by the SRH bowlers in the death overs. Rovman Powell lost his wicket and Jurel didn't get any support form the other end to accelerate the scoreboard. SRH have entered the final of the tournament and they will look to replicate something similar to 2016 edition.
Shahbaz Ahmed bowled a game-changing 12th over as he picked prized scalps of Riyan Parag and Ravichandran Ashwin. Spinners are now coming into the game with them getting some turn from the surface. Dhruv Jurel whacked a six on the last delivery of the 13th over. Abhishek Sharma also provided a breakthrough in the 14th over again as he played a full delivery from backfoot and the stumps were shattered. With five more overs to go RR need 74 runs from the last five overs.
The RR batters are already struggling to score runs and two quick wickets have put them further into deep trouble. First, Shabaz Ahmed got rid of Yashasvi as the batter tried to play a big shot after coming down the track. Smason was the next to go back to the dugout as Samson tried to play a pull from the back foot but ended up playing it straight in the hands of deep-midwicket where Markram was stationed. The freshly arrived pair of Dhruv Jurel and Riyan Parag is at the crease now and they will be keen to take RR over the finishing line.
Kohler-Cadmore wasn’t able to get going right from the start and his stay at the crease was put to an end by Pat Cummins as he tried to pull a short delivery but failed to do so and ended up giving a catch. RR looked like they would slow down but Yashasvi Jaiswal amassed 19 runs from the sixth over bowled by Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Live Updates from the first innings
Shahbaz Ahmed kicked off the 17th over with a six over deep midwicket as Ashwin bowled a short delivery. 14 runs from the over. Klaasen whacked a powerful hit straight down the ground which resulted in six runs for him. The South African batter has completed his fifty and the onus to provide an ultra-attacking finish for the team. But, a pin-point yorker from Sandeep Sharma dismissed him. The dismissal resulted in a lack of required finish for the batting side
Only three runs from the 11th over and the bowlers are bowling it in tight areas to restrict the batters. Six more runs were scored in the next over and SRH needs to up the ante as soon as possible. Klaasen might have started that with a six on the fourth delivery of the 13th over by the bowler where he banged it in the short. In pursuit of being innovative, Nitish Reddy tried to play a reverse scoop and played it straight in the hands of Yuzvendra Chahal who was fielding at gully. Avesh Khan then cleaned up Abdul Samad in the next over and SRH are in deep trouble now with six wickets down.
10 runs from the seventh over by the SRH batters with Travis Head playing some brilliant strokes. Klaasen continued the momentum as he shifted his weight on his backfoot and smacked a six on the fourth delivery of the over. Ashwin however came up with a tidy over next but still, SRH are scoring at 10 runs per over. Interestingly, it was the first over in the RR innings where they didn’t score any boundary. Short deliveries are doing very well for the bowling side as Head was the next to walk back to the pavilion as he handed a catch to the fielder at third man while facing a slower bouncer.
It's a crucial game today for both sides as a spot in the final is at stake. Abhishek started the innings brilliantly with a pull over deep midwicket for a maximum. He followed it with a straight drive next delivery but Abhishek Sharma was dismissed on the last ball by Boult as he mistimed his stroke and was caught in the deep. Tripathi played a brilliant drive through the off-side region in the third over of the innings. The right-handed batter was crafty at the crease smacking two back-to-back fours and then following it up with a six in the fourth over. He was playing some classy shots but an attempt to play upper cut on a slower bouncer ended his stay at the crease. One more wicket on the next ball as Markram also followed in his footsteps.
Rajasthan Royals: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Sanju Samson(w/c), Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Rovman Powell, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Sharma, Yuzvendra Chahal
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Reddy, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen(w), Abdul Samad, Pat Cummins(c), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, T Natarajan
RR elected to bowl after winning the toss.
