Three sixes. Three dropped catches. Three wides. 26 runs. Jaydev Unadkat was tasked to defend 29 runs in the final over against Punjab Kings in an IPL 2024 match on Tuesday night and he just about managed to do so despite Sunrisers Hyderabad fielders turning their collective backs on him with the visitors securing a narrow two-run win.
The duo of Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma came close to replicating their combined heroics that saw them guiding PBKS to a thrilling three-wicket win over Gujarat Titans last week.
Shashank and Ashutosh came together when PBKS needed 69 off 27 deliveries. Shashank led the first wave of attack as he struck three fours in the 17th over, bowled by Bhuvneshwar Kumar from which the hosts took 17 runs.
And then Ashutosh waded into SRH captain Pat Cummins with three fours of his own followed by a fairly decent 19th over, bowled by T Natarajan that left PBKS 29 to win from six deliveries.
Ashutosh pulled the first delivery of the final over towards midwicket and Nitish Reddy ended up palming the ball over the boundary for a six. Unadkat responded with two wides in a row before Ashutosh was given another reprieve as this time Abdul Samad parried the ball over the ropes for a six.
Ashutosh was given a third life in the over when Rahul Tripathi failed to held onto a regulation catch at deep midwicket but that only cost SRH one run. And by then it was all but over for PBKS as they needed 9 runs off the final delivery which Ashutosh launched over long-off for a six.
PBKS lost their top-three batters inside the first five overs and were playing catch up by the time Sikandar Raza departed leaving them five down for 91in 13.1 overs.
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Earlier, Nitish Reddy showed tremendous character during a vital 37-ball 64, which lifted SRH to a challenging 182/9.
Left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh (4/29) was the standout bowler for PBKS, but SRH still eventually finished with a total that looked improbable at one stage.
Abdul Samad chipped in with a 12-ball 25 before Unadkat ended the SRH innings with a last ball six.
The match got underway on an eventful note as Travis Head (21 off 15 balls) would have been out first ball after a clear edge. But the opener must thank Kagiso Rabada for prolonging his stay in the middle as the South African lead pacer, having opened up Head completely, was not sure if he had indeed induced an edge.
Wicketkeeper Jitesh Sharma went up straightaway but Rabada didn’t join his colleague loudly enough, as the batter got a reprieve with PBKS refusing to take a review.
Replays showed a clear edge, and it was strange on Rabada’s part who was smashed for three successive boundaries by Head for a 16-run third over.
Head got a thick edge for a four, got the second boundary through the off-side, and then played one on the rise through mid-on for his third straight four off Rabada.
Despite living a charmed life, Head failed to capitalise, thanks to PBKS skipper Shikhar Dhawan, who ran back and kept his eyes on the ball to complete an excellent catch, which was followed by his trademark thigh-slap celebration.
It was a big breakthrough for PBKS and their captain was delighted, and so was bowler Arshdeep Singh, who was the beneficiary of Dhawan’s judgement and athleticism.
Two balls later, Aiden Markram was walking back to the dugout for a duck after edging an away going Arshdeep delivery to Jitesh.
Abhishek Sharma, having just hit Sam Curran for a lovely six and a four, fell to the English all-rounder’s next ball after coming down the wicket in search of another big one. He mistimed, and Shashank Singh held on to a good catch to leave SRH in a spot of bother at 39/3 in the fifth over.
The power play yielded only 40 runs for the loss of three wickets as PBKS dominated the visitors, forcing SRH to alter their plans and send Rahul Tripathi as the impact sub. Tripathi replaced Head.
Tripathi (11 off 14 balls) and Heinrich Klaasen (9 in 9 balls) failed to get going to leave SRH tottering at 100 for five in the beginning of the 14th over.
The onus was then on Reddy to bail the team out, and the youngster did that with aplomb and picked 22 runs of a Harpreet Brar over to lift his side, while adding 50 runs in quick time with Samad.
With PTI Inputs
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