Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Punjab Kings by two runs, despite a bold attack by Ashutosh Sharma and Shashank Singh, thanks in large part to a crucial 37-ball 64 from Nitish Reddy, who shown incredible fortitude.
In a thrilling IPL encounter on Tuesday, Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Punjab Kings by two runs, despite a bold attack by Ashutosh Sharma and Shashank Singh. Young Nitish Reddy displayed remarkable fortitude during a crucial 37-ball 64. After PBKS had the visitors reeling at 66 for four in the tenth over, the 20-year-old Reddy was sent in to bat and pushed SRH to 182/9. If it weren’t for a sensational 66-run partnership between the stars of their previous game, Shashank (46 not out off 25 balls) and Ashutosh (33 not out off 15 balls), PBKS would not have progressed so far. They were stopped at 180/6.With 29 runs needed in Jaydev Unadkat’s final over, SRH lost three catches, allowing Shashank and Ashutosh to come within touching distance of another surprise victory.
Reddy, who began as a hitter at age group level before progressing to a pace-bowling all-rounder, hit five sixes and four fours in his undefeated innings.
PBKS’ standout bowler was left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh (4/29), but SRH eventually completed with a total that seemed implausible at one point.
Abdul Samad contributed a 12-ball 25 before Jaydev Unadkat closed out the SRH innings with a six.
In response, the hosts got off to a bad start, losing three wickets with only 20 runs on the board, one of whom was skipper Shikhar Dhawan (14 off 16 balls), who was beautifully caught by Heinrich Klaasen despite standing up to seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2/32).
The early dismissals of his opening partners, Jonny Bairstow and Prabhsimran Singh, put Dhawan under run rate pressure.
SRH skipper Pat Cummins (1/22) bowled Bairstow for a three-ball duck as he attempted to play over the line, while Bhuvneshwar sent back Prabhsimran (4) after the batter got a leading edge while attempting to move the ball on the leg side.
T Natarajan (1/33) dismissed Sam Curran for a 22-ball 29 as Cummins made a superb catch at mid-off.
The first ball of the match would have resulted in Travis Head (21 off 15 balls) being out due to a clear edge. However, the opener had to give credit to Kagiso Rabada for extending his stay in the middle since the South African leading bowler was unsure if he had really forced an edge after totally opening up Head.
Jitesh Sharma, the wicketkeeper, was up first, but Rabada failed to follow suit with enough volume, giving the batter a reprieve when PBKS declined to consider a review.
Replays revealed a distinct advantage, and Rabada’s three consecutive boundaries from Head for a 16-run third over was peculiar.
Head played one on the rise through mid-on for his third consecutive four off Rabada after getting a thick edge for a four and the second boundary through the off-side.
PBKS captain Shikhar Dhawan, who sprinted back and kept his eyes on the ball to complete an amazing catch and celebrated with his signature thigh-slap, prevented Head from capitalizing despite having a blessed life.
Bowler Arshdeep Singh, who benefited from Dhawan’s athleticism and good discretion, was ecstatic about the significant breakthrough for PBKS.
After Aiden Markram edged an away going delivery from Arshdeep to Jitesh, he was returning to the dugout for a duck two balls later.
After hitting Sam Curran for a gorgeous six and a four moments earlier, Abhishek Sharma came down the wicket looking for another huge blow and was caught by the English all-rounder’s next ball. His miscue caused Shashank Singh to hold onto a good catch, putting SRH in trouble at 39/3 in the fifth over.
Rahul Tripathi was sent in as an impact substitute for Head by SRH after the power play produced just 40 runs for the cost of three wickets as PBKS dominated the visitors.
At the start of the 14th over, SRH was struggling at 100 for five thanks to the lack of progress made by Heinrich Klaasen (9 in 9 balls) and Tripathi (11 off 14 balls).Reddy had to save the squad at that point, and he did so with style, scoring 50 runs quickly alongside Samad and hitting 22 off a Harpreet Brar over to give his side a boost.
