Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], May 3 (ANI): Sunrisers Hyderabad opener Travis Head admitted that the hosts “didn’t expect” to end the night at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium with a victory against Rajasthan Royals in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL).
The Orange Army present in the stands witnessed a nerve-racking match, a game where momentum swung like a pendulum in the favor of both teams.
The 134-run partnership between Yashasvi Jaiswal and Riyan Parag almost took the game away from SRH. But the hosts defied the odds and bounced back to walk away with two points and make the Royals taste their second defeat in the ongoing season.
“It’s a good win, it’s probably one that we didn’t expect at the end there. Cummins and Bhuvi showed their class at the end and got us a nice win. We’ve been playing well, we’ve had a couple of losses, nice for the energy,” Head said after the game.
With 20 runs required in the final two overs, Cummins led from the front and took the mantle on himself of bowling the 19th over.
He removed Dhruv Jurel on the first ball and pulled off all sorts of variation to concede just one run in the next four deliveries. On the final ball, Royals Rs 7.40 crore signing Rovman Powell cleared the ropes on the final ball to bring down the equation to 13 in 6 balls.
Seasoned pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar was handed the ball to see off the game for the hosts. Powell picked a boundary and heavily relied on doubles to bring down the equation to two runs in the final ball.
With super over on the cards, Bhuvneshwar bowled a low full toss to trap the West Indies power hitter in front of the stumps to seal a one-run win for SRH.
“It was challenging but with the wicket and the way Pat bowled the 19th over, he’d be disappointed with the last ball, but class at the end, two class players, two of the old boys. Very satisfied with the win. I thought that (201) was a great score,” Head added.
Unlike going all guns blazing from the very first ball in their previous games, SRH took a sturdy and resilient approach to keep the scoreboard ticking.
After Abhishek Sharma failed to make an impact, Head (58) and Nitish Reddy (76*) opened their arms to take SRH’s score past the 200-run mark.
Head who was the closest spectator to the carnage that Nitish spread during his time on the crease, hailed the all-rounder for his effortless knock.
“Nitish played out of his skin again. He’s had a couple of innings now where he’s stepped up, which made it look really easy. It was a tough pitch. I felt we had heaps but that’s T20 crickets, it comes down to the wire most times. Always nice to win in front of your home fans,” Head concluded.
With two points in their kitty, SRH leapfrogged Chennai Super Kings and moved to the fourth spot with 12 points in 10 matches in the points table. (ANI)
Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed of ANI; only the image & headline may have been reworked by News Services Division of World News Network Inc Ltd and Palghar News and Pune News and World News
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