The Sunrisers Hyderabad won a nail-biting thriller against the Rajasthan Royals as Bhuvneshwar Kumar held his nerves to secure the one-run victory.
Sunrisers Hyderabad, electing to bat first, got off to a shaky start as they lost their opener, Abhishek Sharma, cheaply to Avesh Khan. Anmolpreet, who came in at number three, was dismissed shortly after by Sandeep Sharma. However, a solid partnership between Travis Head (58) and Nitish Reddy (76) brought stability back to the SRH innings. The duo stitched together a crucial 96-run stand, anchoring the middle overs. Later, wicketkeeper-batter Heinrich Klaasen provided a late-innings cameo, smashing a quickfire 42 off just 19 deliveries. Klaasen’s and Nitish’s knocks propelled the Hyderabad total to a competitive 201 runs.
For the Rajasthan Royals, Avesh Khan emerged as the most successful bowler, claiming two wickets. Yuzvendra Chahal, however, had a forgettable outing, leaking runs at an economy rate of over 15.50 in his four overs. Trent Boult, usually a potent threat, also had a quiet day with the ball.
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In response, the Rajasthan Royals failed to gain a decent start as Jos Buttler and skipper Sanju Samson fell for a duck in the very first over by Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Riyan Parag (77) then paired with Yashasvi Jaiswal (67) to stitch a strong 134 runs that anchored RR back into the game. However, both of them were dismissed in the middle overs, shaking RR’s strong position. SRH gained back their momentum as Pat Cummins (34-2) dismissed Dhruv Jurel, a promising batter.
Natarajan’s spell proved to be the turning point of the match as he dismissed a confident Jaiswal and also took the wicket of dangerous Hetmyer, who might have turned the tide against SRH. The match climaxed with a nail-biting finish as Bhuvneshwar Kumar (41-3), the star bowler, defended the target by dismissing Powell on the last ball when RR needed only two runs.
Last Updated on May 2, 2024
