HYDERABAD: Abhishek Sharma continued his marauding form with a quickfire 28-ball 66 (5x4, 6x6) as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Punjab Kings by four wickets to brighten their prospects of a top-two finish in the standings.
The victory at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket stadium took SRH to 17 points and the second spot on Sunday. And with the match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals washed out due to rain later in the day, SRH secured the No.2 position in the final points table on superior net run rate over the Royals.
Chasing Punjab Kings’ 214/5, thanks largely to Prabhsimran Singh’s 71 (45b, 7x4, 4x6), Abhishek added 72 runs for the second wicket with Rahul Tripathi (33 off 18b) and 57 runs with Nitish Kumar (37 off 25b) for the third wicket as the hosts finished at 215/6 with five deliveries to spare.
That after Sunrisers lost their in-form opener Travis Head to the very first ball, as he was cleaned up by Arshdeep Singh.
But Tripathi and Abhishek plundered 72 runs in just 30 balls. Though Tripathi departed in the sixth over, caught by Arshdeep, the hosts had by then powered to 84/2 in the powerplay. Abhishek continued his aggressive approach despite losing two partners. He hit Harshal Patel for consecutive boundaries to reach his half-century in 21 deliveries and then lofted Harpreet Brar for consecutive sixes to take Hyderabad to 129/2 at the halfway mark. However, he perished to the first ball of Shashank Singh’s next over.
Nitish and Heinrich Klaasen then kept the hosts on course. Both hit sixes off Brar and Rahul Chahar to bring down the required run rate to just over six by the 13th over.
With 39 required from 37 deliveries, Nitish departed after adding 47 for the fourth wicket. With eight runs needed for victory, Klaasen (42 off 26b) too fell, cleaned up by Brar. But Abdul Samad hit Atharva straight down the ground for a boundary to take his side to victory.
1/10:Abhishek, Klaasen shine as SRH down Punjab Kings
<p>Read more on TOI Sports</p>Agencies
2/10:SUPERB SHOW
<p>Indian batsman Abhishek Sharma smashed 66 as Sunrisers Hyderabad kept their hopes alive for a top-two finish in the IPL league stage with a four-wicket win over Punjab Kings on Sunday.</p>Agencies
3/10:ORANGE ARMY
<p>Chasing 215 for victory, SRH, who are already among the top four teams to have made the play-offs, reached the target with five balls to spare at their home.</p>Agencies
4/10:CUMMINS' ARMY
<p>The former champions, led by Pat Cummins, have 17 points from 14 matches after their win aginst Punjab Kings.</p>Agencies
5/10:NOT MY DAY!
<p>Left-handed Abhishek, who has been a breakout young Indian star in this edition with 467 runs including three half-centuries, took charge after Travis Head departed for a first-ball duck.</p>Agencies
6/10:HALF TON
<p>Abhishek reached his 50 in 21 balls and hammered five fours and six sixes in his 28-ball blitz to set up the chase.</p>Agencies
7/10:SOLID STANDS
<p>Abhishek put on an attacking stand of 72 with Rahul Tripathi, who smashed 33, before Nitish Kumar Reddy and Heinrich Klaasen steadied the innings and hit back.</p>Agencies
8/10:SUPER KLAASEN
<p>Klaasen smashed 42 before he got out in the 19th over and Sanvir Singh steered the team home.</p>Agencies
9/10:PRABH ON FIRE
<p>Punjab Kings, who exited the play-off race early and extended their wait for a first IPL title, posted 214-5 as Prabhsimran Singh hit 71 off 45 balls to lay the foundations for the total.</p>Agencies
10/10:FIERY PACER
<p>Left-arm medium-pace bowler T. Natarajan stood out with figures of 2-33 in his four overs.</p>AgenciesEarlier, openers Prabhsimran and Atharva Taide (46 off 27b) added 97 runs for the opening wicket in nine overs, 61 of them in the first six, after Punjab elected to bat.
Natarajan got rid of Taide in the 10th over, but Prabhsimran reached his half-century in 34 balls.
Rilee Rossouw and Prabhsimran hit Nitish for 20 runs in the 12th over before the latter departed after adding 54 runs for the second wicket. Rossouw then smashed Nitish for a six and a four before a mixup with Shashank Singh resulted in the latter’s run out.
Cummins then removed Rossouw (49) and Natarajan got rid of Ashutosh Sharma in the next.
