PremiumIPL 2024 - Ashutosh Sharma and Shashank Singh almost give PBKS victory, but SRH win by 2 runs
The final over between PBKS and SRH saw three dropped catches, three wides, and three sixes, resulting in Punjab losing at home by just 2 runs.
Last Updated: 11.40 PM, Apr 09, 2024
What an intense match it was! It seemed like everything was over for Punjab Kings (PBKS), but once again, games heroes Ashutosh Sharma and Shashank Singh rose to the occasion against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Match 23 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur, Chandigarh. However, their efforts fell just short as they lost by a mere 2 runs.
With 67 runs required from the last four overs, SRH held a strong position, but Shashank Singh hammered three boundaries in an over off Bhuvneshwar Kumar, while his partner Ashutosh Sharma followed up with back-to-back fours off Pat Cummins. Against T Natarajan, despite the bowler conceding a couple of boundaries, he delivered two crucial yorkers, giving away just 10 runs.
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Jaydev Unadkat was entrusted with bowling the final over, which turned out to be eventful. It saw three dropped catches, three wides, and three sixes, resulting in PBKS losing at home by just 2 runs. This could have been PBKS' game had Harshal Patel in the first innings not palmed the final ball over the boundary rope for a SIX.
For PBKS, wickets kept falling as Shikhar Dhawan (14 off 16), Jonny Bairstow (0 off 3), and Prabhsimran Singh (4 off 6) fell within the strong Powerplay. However, Sam Curran (29) and Sikandar Raza (28) built a partnership, but it was soon broken. Subsequently, Shashank Singh (46* off 25), Jitesh Sharma (19 off 11), and Ashutosh Sharma (33* off 15) took matters into their own hands, bringing their side very close to victory.
For SRH, Bhuvneshwar Kumar took two wickets, while Pat Cummins, T Natarajan, Nitish Reddy, and Jaydev Unadkat all took one wicket each.
Earlier in the first innings, despite wickets falling at regular intervals, SRH managed to score 182 runs on the board. They would have been all-out, but Harshal Patel inadvertently let the ball go for a maximum at the boundary on the final ball. In addition to Arshdeep Singh's 4-wicket haul, Sam Curran and Harshal Patel claimed two wickets each, while Kagiso Rabada took one wicket.
SRH's highest scorer was debutant Nitish Reddy (64 off 37), followed by Abdul Samad (25 off 12), Travis Head (21 off 15), Abhishek Sharma (16 off 11), and Shahbaz Ahmed (14 off 7).
Teams:
Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI): Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen(w), Abdul Samad, Nitish Reddy, Shahbaz Ahmed, Pat Cummins(c), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, T Natarajan
Subs: Umran Malik, Mayank Markande, Washington Sundar, Glenn Phillips, Rahul Tripathi
Punjab Kings (Playing XI): Shikhar Dhawan(c), Jonny Bairstow, Jitesh Sharma(w), Ashutosh Sharma, Sam Curran, Shashank Singh, Sikandar Raza, Harpreet Brar, Harshal Patel, Kagiso Rabada, Arshdeep Singh
Subs: Prabhsimran Singh, Nathan Ellis, Tanay Thyagarajan, Rahul Chahar, Rishi Dhawan