SRH stun RR by four wickets in last-ball IPL thriller

PTI, May 8, 2023, 8:13 AM IST

Image credit: Twitter / @IPL / video screengrab

Jaipur:  Abdul Samad hit a six off the final delivery, re-bowled after a no-ball call, as Sunrisers Hyderabad stunned Rajasthan Royals by four wickets in a dramatic match of the Indian Premier League here on Sunday.

Chasing a target of 215, SRH needed 17 runs off the final over bowled by Sandeep Sharma with Samad and Marco Jansen at the crease. Samad hit a six off the second ball to leave the equation to five runs from the last delivery when the drama unfolded.

Everybody thought Samad was out with Jos Buttler taking a catch near the boundary but the umpire called for a no-ball and the last delivery was re-bowled.

SRH needed four runs for a win, but Samad (17 not out) then despatched Sharma’s delivery for a six to reach 217 for 6 and notch up one of the most improbable wins in the IPL, leaving RR players shell shocked.

Number six batter Glenn Phillips (25 off 7 balls) also played his part in the turnaround of SRH’s fortunes as they needed 69 off the last five overs though with eight wickets in hand.

Phillips spiced up the tall chase by hitting three consecutive sixes and a four off inexperienced pacer Kuldip Yadav in the penultimate over to raise hopes of a stunning win.

Ultimately, RR spinner Yuzvendra Chahal’s (4/29) fine effort went in vain, though at one stage it looked like a comfortable win for RR.

SRH began the run chase on a cautious note as they lacked in fireworks in the powerplay overs at the end of which they were 52 for 1 with impact player Anmolpreet Singh becoming the first victim of Chahal.

Ravichandran Ashwin (4-0-35-1) also kept things tight and the SRH batters found it difficult to get the boundaries.

At the halfway mark, SRH were 87/1, needing another 128 from the back end and asking rate nearing 13 in an over.

Abhishek Sharma (55) fell after hitting Ashwin for a six for the second time in the 13th over with the premier India spinner having the last laugh.

In the next over, Rahul Tripathi struck a four and two sixes to collect 19 runs from Murugan Ashwin.

Heinrich Klaasen, who hit a four and a six earlier, then gave some anxiety to the RR camp with a six and four off Chahal in the 16th over before he fell in the fifth ball of that over with Jos Buttler taking a well-judged catch at long off.

Earlier, the Royals piled up 214 for 2, thanks a crafty 95 from English opener Jos Buttler and an unbeaten 66 from captain Samson.

After a 54-run opening stand with Yashasvi Jaiswal (35), Buttler (95 off 59 balls) stitched another 138 runs with Samson (66 not out) in 13.3 overs to steer the Royals to a big total after opting to bat.

Buttler missed a well-deserved century as he got out in the penultimate over with five runs short. He hit 10 fours and four sixes during his crafty innings.

Samson’s 38-ball unbeaten knock was studded with four boundaries and five sixes.

The SRH bowlers looked clueless throughout the innings with all of them bleeding runs.

The Royals made a rollicking start, reaching 61 for one at the end of powerplay, thanks to a quickfire 35 off just 18 balls from the talented Jaiswal who continued his fine form this season to reach 1000 IPL runs.

The youngster struck two maximums off Bhuvneshwar Kumar (4-0-44-1) and Marco Jansen (4-0-44-1) as well as five fours but fell to a soft dismissal of the latter bowler in the fifth over.

Jansen extracted extra bounce from a slower offcutter and Jaiswal simply lofted the ball on to the hands of T Natarajan.

The tempo continued as the home side were 107 for 1 at the halfway stage with one-down Samson punishing the SRH bowlers and scoring his first fifty in six matches.

Samson targeted Mayank Markande for special treatment as he struck three towering sixes off the hapless bowler in the ninth over which yielded 21 runs.

Buttler, who was relatively quiet in the early part of his innings, began to open up his arms after settling down nicely.

The Buttler-Samson duo kept the run-rate above 10 run an over all the time, reaching 150 in the 15th over as the SRH bowlers became increasingly clueless on how to break the partnership.

The Royals duo kept on getting the sixes every over as they launched onto the SRH bowlers after laying a strong foundation. The Royals added 60 runs off the last five overs.

Samson struck two more sixes off Markande in the 16th over and then reached his third fifty in the 18th over off 33 balls.

Buttler was out five runs short of hundred in the penultimate over with Bhuvneshwar Kumar getting his scalp after a review.

Brief scores:

Rajasthan Royals: 214 for 2 in 20 overs (Jos Buttler 95, Sanju Samson 66 not out; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 1/44).

Sunrisers Hyderabad: 217 for 6 in 20 overs (Abhishek Sharma 55; Yuzvendra Chahal 4/29).