May 3rd 2024.
Hyderabad: It was an exhilarating match at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium as Sunrisers Hyderabad secured a nail-biting one-run victory over Rajasthan Royals in the IPL 2024. As the captain, Pat Cummins, led his team to victory, he revealed that the thought of a Super Over crossed his mind during the intense final over.
In order to defend 12 runs, SRH had to face a tough challenge as they could only keep four fielders outside the 30-yard circle due to a slow-over rate penalty. However, their veteran fast-bowler, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, rose to the occasion and took 3-41, including the crucial wicket of Rovman Powell on the last ball with a low full toss. This stunning win against the table-toppers has now propelled SRH to the fourth position in the points table.
After the match, Cummins expressed his excitement, saying, "What an amazing game! On that last ball, I had completely forgotten that if we took a wicket, we could win. All I was thinking about was a Super Over. In T20 cricket, you get used to batters getting their team over the line, but in the last over, anything can happen. Bhuvneshwar just nailed six yorkers in a row!"
Apart from Bhuvneshwar, Cummins and T Natarajan, the new leading wicket-taker in the tournament, also played a crucial role by taking two wickets each. With the bat, SRH's total of 201/7 was mainly due to Nitish Kumar Reddy's impressive knock of 76 off 42 balls. Travis Head also contributed with 58 off 44 balls, while Heinrich Klaasen remained unbeaten on 42 off just 19 deliveries.
Cummins also had high praise for T Natarajan, saying, "Natarajan is an awesome yorker bowler. He is fantastic. He reads the conditions really well and took his time to settle in before hitting the ball wherever he wanted. He is amazing in the field and also provides a couple of handy overs with the ball."
On the other hand, Rajasthan Royals captain, Sanju Samson, credited the SRH bowlers for their impressive performance in stopping their team from winning the match. "We have played some close games and won a couple of them. Unfortunately, we lost this one, but credit goes to the SRH bowlers. We were scoring at a rate of 10 runs per over until the last over. In the IPL, there is very little margin for error, and SRH took full advantage of that. We all know that in this tournament, you never win the game until you actually win it," he said.
Despite losing early wickets, RR's Yashasvi Jaiswal and Riyan Parag put up a brave fight with a partnership of 134 runs for the third wicket. Jaiswal's 67 off 40 balls and Parag's 77 off 49 balls kept their team in the hunt for an impressive win.
Talking about their performance, Samson said, "It was very difficult to bat with the new ball. We bowled really well in the powerplay. As the ball got older, it became easier to bat, and they took full advantage of it. Credit goes to both the young players for their responsible innings. In such situations, you tend to take risks, but you also run the risk of getting out. They played really well and deserve all the credit."
[This article has been trending online recently and has been generated with AI. Your feed is customized.]
[Generative AI is experimental.]
