SRH survive another Shashank-Ashutosh blitz in two-run win
All-round Nitish Kumar Reddy backed up by the SRH quicks took the side over the line defending 182
All-round Nitish Kumar Reddy backed up by the SRH quicks took the side over the line defending 182
Scorer: @Thilak_Rama | Commentator: Shashwat Kumar
11:38pm And that will be a wrap from us for tonight. SRH get their first win on the road and move to within two points of top spot, while PBKS rue what they will feel was a missed opportunity tonight. We will be back again tomorrow as table-toppers Rajasthan Royals welcome the Gujarat Titans to Jaipur. Until then, this is goodbye from all of us here at ESPNcricinfo. Goodnight and take care!
Nitish Kumar Reddy, Player of the Match: For me, it is a big contribution for my team and myself. I have been talking to myself that I have to believe in myself and that I have to be there (for my team). The seamers were bowling well, so I did not want to take them on. When the spinners came on, I wanted to attack them and that is what I did. The slower bouncer is really working (through the tournament), so I just wanted to use the dimensions. I just want to continue this performance for my team, with the bat, with the ball and in the field. I just want to be like this.
Pat Cummins, Sunrisers Hyderabad captain: It was a great game of cricket. they bowled really well at the start, we did well to get to 182 and then defended it. The beauty of the impact player is that you feel you have really deep batting. We try to be positive, to take the game on. If you get 150-160, you are going to lose nine out of ten games anyway. We knew the new ball was going to be a key time. We were pretty happy (with our score). The conditions really. Saw what happened with the new ball for them, so thought if me and Bhuvi could start off with a wicket of wickets (it would be good). We have plenty of left-armers, right-armers, so just trying to give the bowlers the best chance of success. He was awesome, fantastic debut last week. Straight to the top for the order, fantastic in the field, bowled three overs too. To get us to 180 off his bat, it was amazing.
Shikhar Dhawan, Punjab Kings captain: Shashank and Ashutosh played great knocks. I feel that we kept them to a good total. Unfortunately, we could not cash in on the first six overs and that is where we lost the game. That pinched us hard. (On their shot selection and if they would want to change it in hindsight) The wicket was not offering that much bounce so every individual has to come up with better plans. Because we got outâŠof course we would want to change our strokes. I feel that at the end, we dropped that catch on the last ball. We could have stopped 10-15 runs more and that made a difference as well. As a batting unit, we did not perform. It is important for the top order to perform. (On Ashutosh and Shashank) It is great to see those youngsters coming in and chipping in. We are going to bounce back from this loss. There was always the hope that they could finish the game. Hats off to them that they brought it this close. Gives us confidence and hope for the next game. We have to do better in certain areas and improve.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar: That is the beauty of the T20 game. It is not for the bowlers (smiles). The wicket changed a lot in the last few overs, we scored runs and they scored runs as well. Good to get a win. I asked him (Klaasen) to come up. Shikhar was stepping out, there was not much movement, wanted to get a bit out of the wicket. (On if he remembers when he got his last stumping dismissal) I think it was when I was playing for the Pune Warriors, long time ago. (On what he tries to do to adapt after playing for so long) Everyone knows what you are going to do, but it is about doing the same thing over and over, and keeping it simple. You need a bit of luck as well. He (Ashutosh) batted really well. when someone is batting and you think that they can still win the game, that is really appreciable, and good for India as well.
11:15pm Phew. What a game. That perhaps sums it up. It ebbed one way, then flowed the other. Then, it twisted, and then it turned. And in the end, SRH had just enough in the bank to outlast the home side, despite Ashutosh and Shashank putting together 66 off just 27 balls.
Prior to that, the Punjab Kings did not cover themselves in glory. Their batting inside the powerplay left a fair bit to be desired. They had to then play catch-up in the middle overs, meaning that even when Curran, Raza, Shashank and Ashutosh played their cameos, it was just to regain parity in the contest.
Bhuvneshwar was excellent in the powerplay for SRH. Cummins was superb throughout, and Natarajan held his nerve at the end. Unadkat did pick up Jitesh's wicket, but lost the plot a little in the last over. Thankfully for SRH, they had done just enough before then to offset whatever happened in the final six balls.
Most runs by Indian uncapped players in an IPL match:
204 - MI vs RR, Brabourne 2010 188 - PBKS vs SRH, Mullanpur 2024 186 - PBKS vs RR, Dharamsala 2023 180 - RR vs RCB, Wankhede 2021 179 - RR vs MI, Jaipur 2018
Here's Sampath with an amazing stat: 240 runs scored in this match after the fall of the fourth wicket across both innings, the second-most in an IPL match. The highest is 250 runs during the KKR vs SRH game earlier this year.
10 off 2 now
11 off 2. A six and a four, and we go into a Super Over
Mohit: "No way these two are going to do it again, right?"
13 off 3
Samad did not time the jump and SRH paid the price
21 off 5 now
Players of his kind aren't easy to come by and if Reddy can continue to impress, he may soon make himself more prominent in the BCCI's radar
Kings captain Dhawan rues the lack of runs from his top order and the fielded lapses
All-round Nitish Kumar Reddy backed up by the SRH quicks took the side over the line defending 182
With four back-to-back games in Mullanpur, Kings will hope home comforts help them get out of the mid-table points jam