It seems like paying Rs 20.5 crore for Pat Cummins paid off for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) after all. SRH qualified for the Indian Premier League (IPL) final after five seasons with a 36-run win over Sanju Samson’s Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the Qualifier 2 at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, on May 24. Impact player Shahbaz Ahmed stood out with a three-wicket haul and a handy contribution down the order as Dhruv Jurel’s unbeaten half-century went in vain.
Klaasen's fifty helps SRH post fighting total
Earlier, Samson won the toss and opted to field first. Abhishek Sharma smashed Trent Boult for a six and a four before getting out on the last ball. In the foourth over, Rahul Tripathi smashed Ravichandran Ashwin for two fours and a six. Tripathi went after Boult and hit him for a six and a four as well. But Boult's slower ball got the better of him. He contributed with a 15-ball 37. In the same over, Aiden Markram edged one to short third man fielder. In the sixth over, Sandeep Sharma was hit for two fours by Travis Head. RR were 68/3 after powerplay overs.
Head accelerated as well and hit Avesh Khan for a six and a four. Heinrich Klaasen joined the party and tonked Yuzvendra Chahal for a massive six. Sandeep in his second over got the wicket of Head with fuller delivery. The opener scored 34 runs from 28 balls. Klaasen went after Chahal again and hit him for a maximum. Avesh was brought back into the attack and struck twice. Nitish Reddy departed for a single-digit score whereas Abdul Samad got bowled for a golden duck.
Klaasen hit a few sixes and reached his fifty from 33 balls. Impact player Shahbaz Ahmed supported him in the slog overs. IN the penultimate over, Klaasen got bowled by Sandeep for a 34-ball 50. In the final over, Avesh got the wicket of Shahbaz. He conceded a boundary before running out Jaydev Unadkat. SRH posted 175/9 on the board.
Jurel's fifty in vain
In the run chase, Yashasvi Jaiswal hit Bhuvneshwar Kumar for a six on the last ball of first over. Tom Kohler-Cadmore once again struggled to score. He lost his wicket to skipper Cummins after scoring 10 runs from 16 balls. In the sixth over, Jaiswal hit Bhuvneshwar for a six and three fours. RR were 51/1 after powerplay overs. Shahbaz was introduced into the attack in the eighth over and got the wicket of Jaiswal. He scored 42 runs from 21 balls.
After a few boundary-less overs, Shahbaz capitalised on the pressure and got the wickets of Riyan Parag and Ashwin. After losing half the side, Jurel had no option but to attack. He smashed Aiden Markram for a six. Abhishek in his third over knocked over Shimron Hetmyer. Jurel continued to hit boundaries whereas Rovman Powell struggled to score. In the 18th over, T Natarjan ended Powell's troubled stay at the crease. In the penultimate over, Jurel completed his fifty from 26 balls. Jurel remained unbeaten for 56 off 35 balls as RR posted 139/7 and lost the match by 36 runs.
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