The 69th Indian Premier League (IPL 2024) match took place in Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Punjab Kings. Although the hosts were already guaranteed a spot in the play-offs, they still wanted to finish in the top two, which meant they needed to win tonight in addition to another favourable outcome.
After winning the toss, the Punjab Kings chose to bat first in an attempt to pile up a huge total on the scoreboard. Their collaboration of 97 runs gave them the foundation they needed, and they were off to a tremendous start. After their 20 overs, the team amassed a fantastic total of 214 runs thanks to contributions from Jitesh Sharma and Rilee Rossouw in the second half of the innings.
After six overs and an initial strategic timeout, Sunrisers Hyderabad are at 84/2.
At the beginning of the second innings, though, Sunrisers Hyderabad had the worst conceivable start. Arshdeep Singh delivered a magnificent delivery that hit the stumps straight, dismissing Travis Head with the opening ball of the inning. After moving to the crease, Rahul Tripathi and Abhishek Sharma had a respectable partnership.
They were effortlessly running away and obtaining the necessary boundaries. Harshal Patel finished his subpar first over by taking Tripathi’s wicket to break their 72-run stand in just 29 deliveries. After putting on 84 runs on the board and losing just two wickets, Sunrisers Hyderabad appeared to be in charge at the end of the powerplay.
After 15 overs and two strategic timeouts, Sunrisers Hyderabad were 182/4.
Abhishek Sharma, who is a very good batsman, needed K. Nitish Reddy at the crease to help carry the innings along. With just 21 deliveries remaining, the opener was able to finish the runs flowing and reach his fifty. The opener was searching for more boundaries, but the two were able to put on runs at a terrific rate.
Rain was forecast, so the hosts tried to speed things up. However, in the tenth over, Shashank Singh took the crucial wicket of Abhishek Sharma with the opening ball of his stint. Heinrich Klaasen, who arrived to back Reddy, was combative right away and would push limits whenever he felt like it.
Also read: IPL 2024: Punjab Kings’ 1st inning Highlights against SRH in Match 69
Harshal Patel took Nitish Reddy out of the game before returning to the attack, but by that point, the hosts only needed to score runs per ball to reach the target. Shahbaz Ahmed was given a break in the following over as Patel failed to pick up a simple blow off Arshdeep Singh’s ball.
After 191 overs, Sunrisers Hyderabad are 215/6.
With the knowledge that the game was in their control, the hosts sought to reach the target without taking any more wickets. Though only 18 runs were needed, Klaasen blasted the ball straight to the fielder, ruining Shahbaz’s respectable 21-run partnership. Harpreet Brar also got his wicket cheaply from Klaasen, but the game was almost over. Together, Sanvir Singh and Abdul Samad scored the final few runs to easily win the match.