IPL 2024, SRH vs RR: Shahbaz Ahmed, Abhishek Sharma Spin Hyderabad into Final – News18

The long wait of entering the IPL final ended for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) as they outsmarted Rajasthan Royals (RR) to register a 36–run win in Qualifier 2 in Chennai. Defending 175 runs was never going to be easy but with the pitch offering more grip and turn in the second innings, Pat Cummins played his cards right to trap the opposition in a spin-web.

While Shahbaz Ahmed was the only specialist spinner in the squad, Cummins bowled Abhishek Sharma from the other end and together they picked five wickets in their eight overs and went for just 47 runs. It was clearly the period where the momentum shifted in SRH’s favour and they never released pressure from there on.

Turn, a lot of turn

Shahbaz struck first when he sent Yashasvi Jaiswal back to the hut and Abhishek made it a double delight when he got rid of Sanju Samson. In no time, RR collapsed from 65/1 to 67/3 and Shahbaz landed the knockout blow in his third over where he picked both Riyan Parag and R Ashwin. 79/5, and they were left with a mountain to climb and didn’t have much batting to do the heavy lifting.

Pat Cummins was spot on with his bowling changes and with the ball sticking into the surface and turning a fair bit, SRH managed to control the middle-overs phase of the game. The asking rate climbed to over 12 and the cautious start did seem to have hurt RR.

Watchful start

Unlike their opponents, Samson & Co. preferred a watchful start in the first six overs and didn’t take any risks whatsoever. After five overs, the scoreboard read 32/1 and RR had lost the wicket of Tom Kohler-Cadmore, who was struggling to get any sort of timing in the middle.

The real push came only in the last over of the powerplay where Jaiswal hit Bhuvneshwar Kumar for three boundaries and a six and took the total to 50/1. The left-hander didn’t try to do anything extra in those four boundaries and only hit the ball where it was meant to be hit. Contrasting powerplays for the two teams and SRH probably benefitted from the start they got as batting only became difficult as the game progressed.

Left is right vs SRH too

Travis Head couldn’t get off the mark in the last two games – vs Punjab Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders – and this time it was his teammates’ turn to feel the heat of left-arm quicks. With two left-handers Head and Abhishek Sharma in the middle, Rajasthan Royals would have been tempted by the option of R Ashwin but Sanju Samson stuck to his most successful first-over bowler, and he didn’t disappoint.

Trent Boult got rid of Abhishek Sharma in the first over and the left-hander became his seventh first-over victim of IPL 2024. The Kiwi didn’t stop there and added the wickets of Rahul Tripathi and Aiden Markaram and took his IPL 2024 powerplay tally to 12. SRH had 68 on the board but RR picked three wickets, including that of dangerous looking Tripathi.

The choke and Avesh’s double-wicket over

Heinrich Klaasen’s first two sixes off Yuzvendra Chahal were very significant. The first hit came off the fourth delivery of seventh over while the next came off the fourth delivery of the 13th over. Between those two hits, SRH failed to hit a boundary as RR applied the choke and didn’t allow the opposition to score freely. R Ashwin, Sandeep Sharma and Chahal were the bowlers used during that period and all three sucked momentum out of SRH innings.

A wicket was always on the cards and the big fish fell in the trap as Sandeep’s slower short ball never arrived and Head could only miscue it to R Ashwin at short-third. The discipline with which RR operated during those overs benefitted Avesh Khan, who returned to the attack in the 14th, as the seamer picked wickets of Nitish Reddy and Abdul Samad off consecutive deliveries to put SRH on the mat.

No late flourish

SRH continued with their template of looking for boundaries and Heinrich Klaasen’s 34-ball 50 kept the innings on track. They needed that late flourish to give the bowlers some extra cushion for the dew which was likely to come in the second innings but the last overs were just what RR wanted at that stage.

Sandeep used his slower ones really well in the 19th over where he conceded just six runs and picked the wicket of well-set Klaasen. Avesh sustained pressure from the other end as he too conceded just six runs in the final over to keep SRH to 175/8. It was the seamer’s second consecutive three-wicket haul but he was much tighter than the last game and with one square boundary on the bigger side, the outside off plan worked for Avesh.

Brief scores: SRH 175/9 (Klaasen 50; Avesh 3/27, Boult 3/45) beat RR 139/7 (Jurel 56*; Shahbaz 3/23, Abhishek 2/24)

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