ANI
Hyderabad
Bhuvneshwar Kumar held on to his nerves to seal a 1-run win for Sunrisers Hyderabad against Rajasthan Royals on Thursday in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.
SRH defied the odds and got across the finishing line from the point when defeat stood out as the most likely result for the hosts.
But Pat Cummins and his side maintained discipline with their line and length, which helped them put an end to their two-match winless streak.
While defending 201, Bhuvneshwar Kumar struck twice in the powerplay to put SRH in the driver’s seat.
Jos Buttler was the first to fall for a golden duck and three balls later, Bhuvneshwar produced a delightful inswinging delivery to castle skipper Sanju Samson for a three-ball duck.
Yashasvi Jaiswal and Riyan Parag forged a 134-run partnership to completely swing the momentum in favor of Rajasthan.
The left-hand, right-hand combination caused all sorts of troubles to SRH’s bowling line-up. Jaiswal brought up his fifty off 30 balls, while Parag brought up his half-century with some style. He pulled off a reverse-lapped shot to find the fence off Shahbaz Ahmed in the same over. Cummins brought back Natarajan, who laid the foundation for SRH’s comeback by breaking the partnership. He cleaned up Jaiswal for 67(40).
Parag continued to wage a lone war with 45 required in 26 deliveries. Cummins took the responsibility by bringing himself into the attack.
Giving away two runs from his first four balls was enough to make Parag crumble to pressure. Parag mistimed his shot and walked back with a score of 77(49).
With 42 needed off 24, Rovman Powell launched a counter-attack picking up two fours off Jansen, bringing the equation down to 27 in 3 overs.
Hetmyer hit a massive 106m six off Natarajan to begin the 18th over. However, the SRH pacer bounced back to dismiss Hetmyer three balls later.
With 20 needed off 12, Cummins struck on the first ball and removed Dhruv Jurel. He displayed his versatility in the next four balls and gave away just one run.
Powell smashed the last ball for a towering six over deep cover to bring the equation to 13 needed in the final over.
The experienced Bhuvneshwar was entrusted with the responsibility of defending 13 off the last over. Powell picked up for a four. With six needed off three, Powell managed to bring down the equation to two runs on the final ball.
Bhuvneshwar bowled a low full toss which Powell looked to flick but missed and was hit on the pads. The umpire raised his finger which raised an ecstatic atmosphere in the entire stadium and sealed a 1-run win for the hosts.
Earlier in the game, after putting Royals to bat, Travis Head smashed 58 while Nitish Reddy put his potential on exhibition and struck 76* off 42 deliveries.
Heinrich Klaasen’s short cameo which saw him race to 42* off a mere 19 deliveries powered SRH to 201/3.
ScorescColor:> Sunrisers Hyderabad 201/3 (Nitish Reddy 76*, Travis Head 58, Heinrich Klaasen 42*; Avesh Khan 2-39) beat Rajasthan Royals 200/7 (Riyan Parag 77, Yashasvi Jaiswal 67; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 3-41) by
1 run.
