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.
Here are the live updates from the first innings:
- Over 16-20 (201/3)
Nitish Reddy has been on fire after completing his fifty and he smacked two back-to-back sixes against Ashwin in the 16th over. Klaasen also showcased his hitting abilities taking Yuzvendra Chahal to cleansers on a couple of occasions in the 17th over. He first lofted one over deep mid-wicket and then thumped a pull over deep mid-wicket. The right-handed batter didn’t stop there and he first hit a four and a six in the next over from Avesh Khan. Some brisk hitting in the end from Klaasen helped SRH post 201/3 on the scoreboard.
- Over 11-15 (131/3)
Travis Head completed his fifty in the 12th over of the innings but the real game-changing came for the batting side in the 13th over. Nitish Reddy smacked Chahal to all parts of the ground in the over and hit a couple of fours and as many sixes. Reddy is now settled at the crease while Head is also ploaying his shots with ease. He attacked a short delivery from Avesh with a pull and earned six runs from the shot. However, he tried to be innovative against Avesh and played the ball on his own stumps.
- Over 7-10 (75/2)
The SRH batters garnered 11 runs from the seventh and eighth overs but then Head started the onslaught in the ninth over with a couple of sixes and a boundary against Yuzvendra Chahal. The run-scoring hasn’t been very quick since the last few matches but Head is changing the gear now to steer the scoreboard. Nine runs in the 10th over again but they need to propel the run rate.
- Over 0-6 (37/2)
Sunrisers Hyderabad lost two wickets in the powerplay. The in-form Abhishek Sharma (12 off 10 balls) was dismissed cheaply as pacer Avesh Khan struck in the fifth over. One down Anmolpreet Singh (5) also did not trouble the scorers. He was caught by Yashasvi Jaiswal off pacer Sandeep Sharma as the hosts lost the second wicket for 35. Opener Travis Head started on a promising note and is taking on the bowlers with utmost ease. He was going strong from one end and was joined by Nitish Reddy in the middle.
- Playing XI
Rajasthan Royals: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson(w/c), Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Rovman Powell, Shimron Hetmyer, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Avesh Khan, Yuzvendra Chahal, Sandeep Sharma
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Anmolpreet Singh, Heinrich Klaasen(w), Nitish Reddy, Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahmed, Marco Jansen, Pat Cummins(c), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan
- Toss
Sunrisers Hyderabad won the toss and chose to bat.
