SRH’s Travis Head in action.
| Photo Credit: EMMANUAL YOGINI

The wheel of fortune spins quite fast in the Indian Premier League. Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals, who meet in Qualifier 2 at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium here, will attest to this.

SRH went into Tuesday’s Qualifier 1 on the back of authoritative victories over Lucknow Super Giants and Punjab Kings, only for table-topper Kolkata Knight Riders to reduce it to rubble.

RR went into Wednesday’s Eliminator following a five-game winless run that included four defeats, but managed to edge out the high-flying Royal Challengers Bengaluru by four wickets

Shifts in momentum

Friday’s clash will thus pit two sides that have seen shifts in momentum, and each side will be hoping that Lady Fortuna sheds her capricious whims and smiles only in its direction.

SRH leader Pat Cummins explained his team’s effort against KKR as “bit off the pace” and seemed glad that it had not come in a must-win game. After all, one of the perks of finishing in the top-two is that you get two bites at the cherry.

SRH will hope that the second bite too doesn’t taste as bitter. For that, the top-order — led by the marauder-in-chief Travis Head and little tornado Abhishek Sharma that has helped amass 100-plus PowerPlay runs twice — has to recover after being stung by Mitchell Starc.

It now has the arduous task of countering another left-arm quick in Kiwi Trent Boult, whose swing and guile pegged RCB back in the PowerPlay. The world-class duo of R. Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal — an asset SRH doesn’t possess — will present a spin challenge like no other and there is also the death-overs craftiness of Avesh Khan to deal with.

Ashwin, in fact, turned in a Player-of-the-Match performance against RCB (4-0-19-2) and Chepauk is his home turf, the spin-friendly conditions of which he knows like the back of his hand.

RR will also take heart from Shimron Hetmyer’s return and his crucial role — alongside compatriot Rovman Powell — in handling a nervous chase versus RCB.

Tom Kohler-Cadmore, who has replaced fellow Englishman Jos Buttler in the XI, provided a glimpse of his bonafide T20 credentials in the last match. If he comes good on the grandest of stages, RR will be extremely pleased.

With the conditions set to be hot and humid, and dew expected to arrive during the second innings, teams would ideally prefer chasing. But five of SRH’s eight wins have come batting first. It floundered in its last attempt to set a target. Will it back its strength or go with accepted wisdom?

Squads

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Aiden Markram, Abdul Samad, Nitish Reddy, Shahbaz Ahmed, Pat Cummins (c), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, T Natarajan, Mayank Markande, Umran Malik, Anmolpreet Singh, Glenn Phillips (wk), Rahul Tripathi, Washington Sundar, Upendra Yadav (wk), Jhathavedh Subramanyan, Sanvir Singh, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Marco Jansen, Akash Maharaj Singh and Mayank Agarwal.

Rajasthan Royals: Sanju Samson (c & wk), Abid Mushtaq, Avesh Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Donovan Ferreira, Kuldeep Sen, Kunal Singh Rathore, Nandre Burger, Navdeep Saini, Ravichandran Ashwin, Riyan Parag, Sandeep Sharma, Shimron Hetmyer, Shubham Dubey, Rovman Powell, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Trent Boult, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Yuzvendra Chahal and Tanush Kotian.

Match starts: 7.30 p.m. (IST)

Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Bhuvneshwar Kumar celebrates the last-ball wicket of Rajasthan Royals’ Rovman Powell during the IPL match between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals in Hyderabad on May 2, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

Experienced seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar said he wasn’t thinking much and just focussed on bowling two good deliveries after scripting Sunrisers Hyderabad’s sensational one-run win with a last-ball wicket in an IPL thriller here on Thursday.

Defending 12 in the final over, Bhuvneshwar trapped Rovman Powell in front of the wicket in the last ball to stop Rajasthan Royal’s run chase at 200 for 7 and pull off a heist in the end.

Sunrisers had scored 201 for 3 in their 20 overs, riding on fifties from Travis Head and Nitish Reddy.

“I wasn’t thinking much about the result in the last over. There was no discussion in the last over, was just focussed on the process. Was thinking just about bowling two good balls, anything could have happened,” Bhuvneshwar, who was adjudged the Player of the Match for his 3 for 41, said at the post-match presentation.

“The ball swung so much, can’t really pinpoint, really enjoyed it. Luckily got wickets today. When the season started thought process was different, but it changed when the batters played in such a way,” he added.

SRH captain Pat Cummins was a happy man after his team managed to snap a two-game losing streak.

“It was an amazing game. That’s T20 cricket. Anything can happen, Bhuvi executed that last ball. You try to take some wickets in the middle. Natarajan is a good yorker bowler, fortunately we got some wickets,” said the Australian pacer , who bowled a superb 19th over conceding just 7 runs.

“We played some games here, thought 200 could have been chased down. He (Nitish Reddy) sums up the conditions pretty well, he’s amazing, great in the field, gives some overs with the ball as well,” Cummins added.

Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson said that even while it seemed his side was cruising to victory he was not certain they would get over the line given the unpredictable nature of the league.

“We have played some really close games this season, won a couple of them and lost this one. Credit to the SRH bowlers for the way they fought back,” he said.

“The margin of errors is very less in the IPL. The game is never done till it is done. It was tough to bat against the new ball and when it got old, it became easier.

He was full of praise for the young duo of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Riyan Parag who resurrected the Royals’ innings after Jos Buttler and Samson got out for ducks in the first over.

“Credit to both youngsters (Jaiswal and Parag), myself and Jos (Buttler) got out in the powerplay, they played well and got us to that position,” Samson Said.

Sunrisers Hyderabad batter Nitish Reddy plays a shot during the IPL 2024 T20 cricket match between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals at Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Uppal, in Hyderabad, Thursday, May 2, 2024.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Entrusted with the task of shepherding Sunrisers Hyderabad’s middle-order, young Nitish Reddy has been doing the job with aplomb at a time when he is seen by many as a future India all-rounder, thanks to his ability to bowl lively medium pace.

Opting to bat in the IPL game against table-toppers Rajasthan Royals here on Thursday, Reddy (76 not out) and Travis Head (58) produced explosive fifties, while Heinrich Klassen made an unbeaten 19-ball 42 to power SRH to 201 for three.

Experienced seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar then did the star turn with a sensational final over as SRH pulled off a heist, stunning RR by just one run in a last-ball thriller to keep their playoff hopes alive.

Nitish, 20, stated that his role was to rebuild the innings after quick wickets.

“From the last two matches, we are losing quick wickets and I have to go. My role is to carry on till the 13th and 14th over so that Klaasen gets a license to bang. There is no point in Klaasen and Samad coming early, but not getting to score freely,” said Nitish at the post-match press conference.

The all-rounder hailed Bhuvneshwar after the veteran pacer bowled a brilliant final over to help Hyderabad seal a dramatic win.

Nitish said he was hopeful that Bhuvneshwar would be able to defend 13 runs in the last over.

“I was looking at who was going to bowl. When I saw Bhuvneshwar was going to bowl, I got the confidence that he was going to pull it off.”

“During his prime, he had done it so many times. I did not think we were going to win, I thought either we’d lose or tie. But that last-ball wicket, I felt so happy,” Nitish said.

During his explosive knock, Nitish smashed RR’s in-form Yuzvendra Chahal for two fours and two sixes in the 13th over. Nitish said that he backed himself to attack the seasoned leg-spinner.

Reddy also said the victory against RR, following losses to Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Chennai Super Kings, is important.

“Beating RR will boost our confidence, they are at the top of the points table,” he concluded.

Not in my best form: Parag

Rajasthan Royals batter Riyan Parag returned to the top five in the Orange Cape race after striking his fourth fifty of the season.

The 22-year-old Parag slammed 77 off 49 balls but could not help his side chase down the target set by SRH.

Despite his breakout season with the franchise, Parag said he was not in his best form since he could not finish the game.

“I got a lot of areas to improve. I am not in my best form, I would have finished the game otherwise.

“I got a lot of areas to perfect. I try to learn from my mistakes and not repeat them. Is it my best innings? No. I would say that if I get a hundred,” Parag told reporters.

The Assam player said the loss was “dramatic”, adding that his team made a few errors.

“It is never good to end on the losing side. We did a lot of things right. We will focus on them more rather than dwelling on our mistakes. We are at a good position in the points table. Just one bad game I guess.

“We made a few errors in two-three overs and it cost us the game. That is how T20 is, IPL is,” he said.