The Sunrisers Hyderabad added another win to their kitty in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 but not before a stunning final over nearly took Punjab Kings home on Tuesday. The Sunrisers were tasked with the project of defending 29 runs in the final over, and it was Jaydev Unadkat that skipper Pat Cummins handed the ball to complete the challenge. The start of the over gave PBKS hope but scoring 29 runs in the final over was just too big a task to be accomplished at the end.
The over started with Unadkat conceding 14 runs in the first two legal deliveries. The first ball was dispatched for a six, but not before a missed catching opportunity at the boundary rope.
Unadkat then bowled two wide deliveries before another half-catching opportunity saw the ball sail over the boundary for a six. Nervousness crept in as PBKS’ Ashutosh Sharma, who had already hit two sixes in the over, looked to continue his onslaught.
Ashutosh then took two doubles to bring the Sunrisers back into the game. A wide and a single, then brought Shashank Singh to the crease, but not before SRH’s Rahul Tripathi had dropped a catch on the field.
With the final deliveries awaiting Shashank, 9 runs were needed to be scored, and the PBKS batter delivered the maximum possible, a six. But, since it was a legal delivery, Punjab suffered a 2-run defeat.
“I feel that Shashank and Ashutosh played a great knock, we restricted them to a good total, but we couldn’t cash in on the first 6 overs, lost 3 wickets and that’s where we fell behind and it cost us in the end,” Dhawan said after the match.
“There was always hope that they could finish the game, but we got so close and that’ll give us confidence going into the future games, but we’ll have to do better going ahead,” he added.
