They cut it close, but somehow still made it all the way. Sunrisers Hyderabad survived a proper scare against the Punjab Kings, but held on for dear life, as they secured a nail-biting 2-run win at the end of the day in Mullanpur on Tuesday.
A concerted bowling effort from SRH, with huge credit being placed on skipper Pat Cummins’ spell of 1/22, helped SRH eke out the win. But, more than anything, it was Nitish Reddy’s all-round performance that pushed them over the line, as the batter claimed the Player of the Match award as well afterwards.
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Starting off with the bat, SRH encountered a tough start, losing their top order in fairly quick succession.
A clinical initial spell from Arshdeep Singh ensured that dangermen Travis Head and Aiden Markram were scalped early, as SRH were down three wickets for just 39 runs.
Then in came Nitish Reddy, the 20-year-old, who stood all by himself and put on a clinic as he slashed and dashed his way through the PBKS bowlers with ease to help SRH set themselves up for a good total.
“For me it’s like a big contribution for my team and myself. I have been telling myself that I should believe in myself. Seamers were bowling really well, I didn’t want to take on them. I knew that the spinners would come and I wanted to attack them, I just did that,” said Nitish in a post-match interview.
“I also used the dimensions. I just want to continue to perform for my team.”
On a day when even the hard-hitting phenom Heinrich Klassen could not find a way to make the difference, it was Nitish, who took on the likes of the Punjab bowling attack and pummelled them for sixes and fours galore, nothcing up a fine fifty, his first in the IPL, as he steered SRH to a fairly competitive total of 182.
He then also helped scalp the wicket of hard-hitter Jitesh Sharma to help tilt the momentum once again towards the Hyderabad side. But a highly spirited fight from the likes of PBKS’ previous match-winning duo of Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma saw them draw out the match till the very last ball, as they fell a mere 3 runs short of their target, handing SRH their third win of the IPL 2024 campaign.
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