Sunrisers Hyderabad kept their hopes alive in IPL 2023 after clinching a thriller against Rajasthan Royals in Match 52 of TATA IPL 2023 at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.
Abdul Samad’s last-ball six off Sandeep Sharma was the icing on the cake for Sunrisers Hyderabad who chased down the mammoth total of 215. This was a much-needed win for Sunrisers Hyderabad who now have four wins from their 11 games.
Rajasthan Royals, who won the toss and elected to bat first, got off to a flying start courtesy of Jos Buttler and captain Sanju Samson. Buttler was in sublime form, and he played some brilliant shots, smashing 10 fours and three sixes to entertain Jaipur with a scintillating knock of 95 off 59 balls.
Meanwhile, Samson played the support role to perfection, scoring a quickfire 66 off 38 balls. The duo added 147 runs for the second wicket to power Rajasthan Royals to a daunting total of 214/2.
Anmolpreet Singh and Abhishek Sharma helped Sunrisers Hyderabad get off to a quick start while chasing 215 runs. With four fours and a six during the Powerplay, Anmolpreet was the main perpetrator as SRH reached their 50 in the sixth over.
When Yuzvendra Chahal entered the fray, he ended the 51-run partnership by getting Anmolpreet caught at deep mid-wicket.
After the wicket, Rajasthan Royals kept things tight, giving away just 21 runs from overs seven to nine. After that, Rahul Tripathi and Abhishek Sharma accelerated the pace by scoring 14 runs off a Murugan Ashwin over.
The pair made a fifty-run partnership, and Tripathi also achieved his half-century with a thunderous six. Abhishek (55 off 34) was eventually caught at short third man by the spinner of the subsequent delivery.
Glenn Phillips launched three sixes off the first three balls of the last over off Kuldip Yadav with 41 needed off 12 deliveries. A four was scored when the fourth ball was sliced past the short third-man fielder.
The following ball Phillips went for another big one, but he mistimed it and it flew to extra cover, where Hetmyer made a fantastic diving catch.
Samson gave Sandeep Sharma the ball once more when there were 17 runs left in the final over. Abdul Samad’s slicing to short third man, where Obed McCoy dropped it and gave up two, almost gave him the opening ball.
Next, Samad hit a six-over long-on, just as Root was about to make a spectacular play. Sandeep eventually hit his yorker as Samad slammed it to long off and scored 2 runs with 9 needed off 4.
On the last ball, Sandeep thought he had Samad caught at long off, and the match was won, but the buzzer went off at the ground for a no ball.
Replays showed Sandeep had overstepped. With 4 needed off the last ball, Samad smashed it straight down the ground for a flat six to win the game for SRH. It was their highest successful run chase in the IPL.
