Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) defeated Punjab Kings (PBKS) by 4 wickets with five balls to spare in Match 69 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Uppal on Sunday.
IPL 2024: Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Punjab Kings – HIGHLIGHTS
SRH finished the league phase with 17 points from 14 games and have a net strike rate of 0.414 as PBKS ended their campaign in ninth with just 10 points.
The win took them second place in the table with 17 points from 14 matches as they would need to wait for the result for the match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals. Rajasthan, who have 16 points, can topple SRH for the prized No 2 spot with a win over KKR in Guwahati.
The outcomes of both the games on Sunday will finalise the team standings as well as playoffs fixtures in Ahmedabad and Chennai. KKR, RR, SRH and Royal Challengers Bengaluru are the four teams to have made the playoffs this year.
Abhishek went about his business with utmost nonchalance for a 21-ball fifty, his third half-century of the season.
He smoked six sixes and five boundaries in his knock of 66 from 28 balls to completely tilt the equation in their favour.
Henrich Klaasen (42; 26 balls) Rahul Tripathi (33; 18b) and Nitish Reddy (37; 25b) made handy contribution in their complete domination act.
Shashank Singh dismissed Abhishek against the run of play with the batter getting beaten by a slower ball and ended up gifting a catch to Shivam Singh at covers.
But with SRH in top gear at 129/2 at the midway stage, the chase was just a formality and Klaasen continued their strong momentum, slamming three fours and two sixes.
Looking to seal the chase, the South African wicketkeeper-batter was bowled by Harpreet Brar in the final over.
But by then, SRH just needed seven runs from 10 balls and Sanvir Singh sealed the issue with a four in the first ball of the final over.
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Earlier, Prabhsimran Singh’s half-century coupled with Rilee Rossouw’s 49 powered PBKS to 214/5 against SRH. Playing his second game of the season, the left-handed opener Atharva Taide along with partner Prabhsimran gave PBKS a blazing start. The duo set the foundation for Punjab’s total by unleashing carnage in the powerplay. The openers scored at the rate of over 10 runs per over to make the most of the field restriction. After six overs, Punjab were 61 for no loss.
Pacer T. Natrajan finally broke the partnership in the 10th over as Taide hit the ball into the hands of Sanvir Singh at point.
Rilee Rossouw joined Prabhsimran in the middle and carried the momentum forward in the middle overs. Meanwhile, the latter also completed his second half-century of the season.
The batters steered Punjab to the 150-run mark and stitched a 54-run partnership for the second wicket before Prabhsimran departed after scoring a 45-ball 71 studded with seven fours and four sixes. This time, Sri Lanka spinner Vijayakanth Viyaskanth did the job for the home team.
The in-form Shashank Singh (2) failed to make his final game of the season memorable as his stay at the crease only lasted for four balls following a mix-up with Rossouw between the wickets in the 16th over.
Meanwhile, SRH skipper Pat Cummins trapped Rossouw on a slow full-toss in the 18th over and left Punjab without a set-batter for the final overs. The South African batter played a knock of 49 runs off 24 balls including four sixes and three fours.
Ashutosh Sharma (2) lost his wicket cheaply to Natrajan in pursuit of scoring at a brisk pace.
In the end, stand-in captain Jitesh Sharma’s cameo of 14-ball 26 not out, laced with two sixes and as many fours, enabled them to touch the 200-run mark in the final over of the innings.
For Hyderabad, Natrajan bagged two wickets while Cummins and Viyaskanth claimed one scalp each.
(With inputs from Agencies)
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