In the Indian Premier League (IPL) match at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium here on Sunday, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) defeated Punjab Kings (PBKS) by a comfortable margin of four wickets thanks to an explosive half-century by opener Abhishek Sharma. With 17 points from 14 games at the end of their league stage campaign, SRH is now ranked second in the standings. But the ultimate standings will be determined following the end of the second game between the Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders, who are currently atop the table.
Arshdeep Singh secured the wicket for Punjab during the power play as Hyderabad, behind 215 on their home stadium, lost opener Travis Head (0) on the opening ball of the innings.
At number three, Rahul Tripathi entered the bat and joined Abhishek in the middle. By firing boundaries at regular intervals, the pair maintained a high scoring rate. With the wicket of Tripathi in the fifth over, Harshal Patel provided PBKS a little reprieve as SRH quickly passed the 50-run barrier and continued to cruise. After 33 runs, including two sixes and four fours, he was out.
After finishing 84-2 in six overs, SRH posted their third-highest power-play total thanks to Nitish Reddy, who came out to bat and maintained the momentum.
Abhishek, meanwhile, hit his third fifty of the year off of just 21 balls. After hitting six sixes and five fours in his 66 runs in 28 balls, he was removed by Shashank Singh in the eleventh over. He made history during his knock by being the first Indian batsman to hit 39 sixes in a single IPL season. Virat Kohli previously held the record with 38 maximums during the tournament’s 2016 edition.
Throughout their innings, SRH maintained control over the game’s pace because to the relentless efforts of Heinrich Klaasen and Nitish. To keep them ahead in the chase, Reddy played a 37-run knock and Klaasen hit 42 off just 26 runs. The home team won easily even though they lost Shabaz Ahmed (3) and Klaasen (42) in the final overs. Sanvir Singh (6) and Abdul Samad (11) eventually remained unbeaten as Hyderabad managed to chase the goal with five balls remaining.
Arshdeep and Harshal both took two wickets for Hyderabad.
Earlier, Rilee Rossouw’s 49 and Prabhsimran Singh’s half-century helped Punjab Kings reach 214/5.
Atharva Taide, a left-handed opener in his second game of the season, and partner Prabhsimran put PBKS ahead early and never looked back. By wreaking havoc during the power play, the pair laid the groundwork for Punjab’s victory. To take full advantage of the field restriction, the openers scored at a rate of more than 10 runs per over. Punjab were 61 for no loss at the end of six overs. In the tenth over, Taide smacked the ball into Sanvir Singh’s hands at point, thereby ending the partnership, thanks to a pacer called T. Natrajan.
In the middle overs, Rilee Rossouw joined Prabhsimran and contributed to the momentum. The latter also reached his second half-century of the season during this time. The batting unit guided Punjab above the 150-run threshold and had a 54-run stand for the second wicket prior to Prabhsimran’s departure, which came after he hit a brilliant 45-ball 71 that featured seven fours and four sixes. For the host team, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, a spinner from Sri Lanka, delivered this time.
After a mix-up with Rossouw between the wickets in the 16th over, the in-form Shashank Singh (2) could not make his final game of the season memorable, as his stay at the crease lasted for just four balls.
In the meantime, Punjab was left without a set-batter for the last overs as SRH captain Pat Cummins trapped Rossouw on a slow full-toss in the eighteenth over. With four sixes and three fours in his 49 runs off 24 balls, the South African batsman was unbeaten.
In an attempt to score quickly, Ashutosh Sharma (2) lost his wicket cheaply to Natrajan.
Eventually, they reached the 200-run barrier in the last over of the innings thanks to a cameo of 14 balls, 26 not out from stand-in captain Jitesh Sharma, which was peppered with two sixes and as many fours. Natrajan took two wickets for Hyderabad, while Viyaskanth and Cummins each took one.