IPL 2024 Qualifier 2: SRH's shot at redemption, through to the final

CHENNAI: Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) skipper Pat Cummins' decision to bring in Abhishek Sharma with the ball paid dividends as the latter and impact sub Shahbaz Ahmed wreaked havoc among Rajasthan Royal's (RR) batters in Qualifier 2 on Friday, restricting them to 139/7.

Yashasvi Jaiswal (42) looked dangerous, but Shahbaz removed him in his first over; Jaiswal's mistimed shot to long-off was comfortably taken by Abdul Samad. Abhishek picked his first wicket this IPL by dismissing Sanju Samson (10). In the subsequent spell, Shahbaz picked off the wickets of Riyan Parag (6), whose mistimed shot over deep midwicket was held onto by Abhishek, and he kept teasing Ravichandran Ashwin before finally getting him caught behind by Heinrich Klaasen for a golden duck.

It was an uphill task for RR to get back on track; they were deprived of runs as Hyderabad looked lively on the field as well, with its players putting full commitment into saving every run. Dhruv Jurel struck a half-century but wasn't helping RR's case as Hyderabad qualified for the final.

Earlier in the day, Boult, who holds the record for the most wickets in the first over of the IPL, struck once again when he dismissed Abhishek (12), who looked dangerous after dispatching Boult’s third ball of the first over for a six over deep midwicket, which was one of the shorter sides of the ground on a pitch being used for the first time in two years.

Ashwin was introduced as early as the second over, with Rahul Tripathi taking things into his stride. Boult was given three overs within the powerplay, and he struck twice in the fifth over to remove both Tripathi (37) and Aiden Markram (1), who returned to the squad after being left out for a while. Change of pace, slow bouncers by Boult were played late only to find Yuzvendra Chahal, who was having his time on the field; he took three catches at short-third.

At the end of the powerplay, Hyderabad were 68/3. The dangerous Travis Head was surprisingly kept quiet, and desperation for runs got the better of him, luring him to play a late shot on a slow bouncer by Sandeep Sharma, only to find the hands of Ashwin at short-third. Klaasen was shouldering the burden as wickets kept tumbling in regular succession.

Hyderabad was deprived of boundaries at one point; a six in the 13th over by Klaasen was its first boundary in 26 balls. Abdul Samad (0), who is having a low-key season, had to depart for a first-ball duck, a length ball propelled to the stumps by Avesh, who sent Nitish Kumar (5) packing the previous ball.

Klaasen (50) brought up his half-century in the 18th over, but Sandeep’s yorker in his first delivery of the next over was completely misjudged, rattling the stumps. Avesh returned in the last over to dismiss Shahbaz (18) as Hyderabad registered 175 on the board.

Brief Scores: Sunrisers Hyderabad 175/9 in 20 overs (Heinrich Klaasen 50, Trent Boult 3/45, Avesh Khan 3/27) beat. Rajasthan Royals 139/7 in 20 overs (Dhruv Jurel 56*, Shahbaz Ahmed 3/23)