In a game that swung like a pendulum, Sunrisers Hyderabad eked out a nerve-racking one-run win over Rajasthan Royals at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Thursday.
Riding young Nitish Kumar Reddy's unbeaten 76 off 42 balls, alongside contributions from opener Travis Head (58 off 44 balls) and Heinrich Klaasen (42 not out off 19 balls), the Sunrisers posted a formidable 201/3 after winning the toss and opting to bat first.
The Royals, in reply, lost both Jos Buttler and captain Sanju Samson in the first over to Bhuvneshwar Kumar. From 1/2, they recovered brilliantly, courtesy Yashasvi Jaiswal (67 off 40 balls) and Riyan Parag (77 off 49 balls). Both Jaiswal and Riyan, though, had their share of luck as they were dropped on seven and 24, respectively.
The Sunrisers still managed to claw their way back into the game when captain Pat Cummins bowled four dot balls in the penultimate over of the game besides dismissing Dhruv Jurel. That over yielded the Royals only seven as they needed 13 off the last six balls.
With Rovman Powell still at the crease, the Royals believed they were in with a chance. A win would have made them the first team of this IPL to seal a playoffs berth. But with two needed off the final ball, Bhuvneshwar (3/41) bowled a full-length well-directed delivery that pinned Powell at his back leg and trapped him lbw.
It turned out to be one kind of a dream game for Bhuvneshwar as he bagged the scalps of all those batters (Buttler, Samson and Powell) who can single-handedly change the complexion of a match. Team India may no longer require him, but Bhuvneshwar proved he's not finished yet.
While the Royals were kept waiting for their playoffs berth, the Sunrisers have moved up to fourth in the standings.
Earlier, 20-year-old Andhra cricketer Reddy, who also bowls medium pace, played a robust innings that included three boundaries and as many as eight sixes. What also stood out was his nonchalance and aggression, especially when facing seasoned leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, who went wicketless and conceded 62 off his four overs.
Alongside Reddy, opener Head made a crucial contribution after missing out in the last couple of matches against Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Chennai Super Kings. A fair amount of credit needs to go to Klaasen as well as his unbeaten cameo provided the Sunrisers innings just the kind of thrust it needed in the death overs, pushing the team total past 200.
The start, though, wasn't at all ideal for the Sunrisers against the table-toppers. The Royals began the proceedings with left-arm quick Trent Boult and off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, and both of them ensured not to let Head or his opening partner Abhishek Sharma off to a flier.
The Sunrisers were 25 without loss after four overs, and very quickly they were reduced to 35/2 in the sixth as Avesh Khan dismissed Abhishek while Sandeep Sharma got rid of Anmolpreet Singh.
From such a situation, the Royals could well have dictated terms. But Head brought his A-game into play just when his team needed him to before Reddy too grew in confidence and finished with a knock that gave the Sunrisers bowling attack a good amount of hope.
Bhuvneshwar then took care of the final result with a dream finish.
