NEW DELHI: Young
Nitish Reddy
displayed remarkable resilience during a crucial innings of 64 runs off just 37 balls, steering Sunrisers Hyderabad to a narrow two-run victory over Punjab Kings in a thrilling IPL match on Tuesday. Despite facing a spirited onslaught from
Shashank Singh
and
Ashutosh Sharma
, the match swung back and forth.
Sent in to bat, the 20-year-old Reddy's innings was instrumental in lifting SRH to a total of 182/9, rescuing them from a precarious position of 66 for four in the 10th over.
Punjab Kings, in response, managed to reach 180/6, largely due to a dynamic 66-run partnership between Shashank (46 not out off 25 balls) and Ashutosh (33 not out off 15 balls), who were the heroes of their previous match.
With 29 runs needed in the final over bowled by Jaydev Unadkat, SRH encountered some tense moments as they dropped three catches, allowing Shashank and Ashutosh to come tantalizingly close to snatching victory once again.
The Visakhapatnam-born Reddy, who started out as a batter at age group level before blossoming into a pace-bowling all-rounder, struck five sixes and fours fours during his unbeaten knock.
Left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh (4/29) was the standout bowler for PBKS, but SRH still eventually finished with a total that looked improbable at one stage.
Abdul Samad chipped in with a 12-ball 25 before Jaydev Unadkat ended the SRH innings with a last ball six.
In reply, the hosts were off to a disastrous start as they lost three wickets with only 20 runs on the board, one of them being captain Shikhar Dhawan (14 off 16 balls) who was stumped brilliantly by Heinrich Klaasen despite standing up to seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2/32).
The run rate pressure got to Dhawan after the early dismissals of his opening partner Jonny Bairstow and Prabhsimran Singh.
Bairstow was bowled by SRH skipper Pat Cummins (1/22) for a three-ball duck after he looked to play across the line, while Prabhsimran (4) was sent back by Bhuvneshwar after the batter got a leading edge while trying to work the ball on the leg side.
Sam Curran was dismissed for a 22-ball 29 by T Natarajan (1/33) thanks to a stunning catch by Cummins at mid-off.
Earlier, the match got underway on an eventful note as Travis Head (21 off 15 balls) would have been out first ball after a clear edge. But the opener must thank Kagiso Rabada for prolonging his stay in the middle as the South African lead pacer, having opened up Head completely, was not sure if he had indeed induced an edge.
Wicketkeeper Jitesh Sharma went up straightaway but Rabada didn't join his colleague loudly enough, as the batter got a reprieve with PBKS refusing to take a review.
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Replays showed a clear edge, and it was strange on Rabada's part who was smashed for three successive boundaries by Head for a 16-run third over.
Head got a thick edge for a four, got the second boundary through the off-side, and then played one on the rise through mid-on for his third straight four off Rabada.
Despite living a charmed life, Head failed to capitalise, thanks to PBKS skipper Shikhar Dhawan, who ran back and kept his eyes on the ball to complete an excellent catch, which was followed by his trademark thigh-slap celebration.
It was a big breakthrough for PBKS and their captain was delighted, and so was bowler Arshdeep Singh, who was the beneficiary of Dhawan's judgement and athleticism.
Two balls later, Aiden Markram was walking back to the dugout for a duck after edging an away going Arshdeep delivery to Jitesh.
Abhishek Sharma, having just hit Sam Curran for a lovely six and a four, fell to the English all-rounder's next ball after coming down the wicket in search of another big one. He mistimed, and Shashank Singh held on to a good catch to leave SRH in a spot of bother at 39/3 in the fifth over.
The power play yielded only 40 runs for the loss of three wickets as PBKS dominated the visitors, forcing SRH to alter their plans and send Rahul Tripathi as the impact sub. Tripathi replaced Head.
Tripathi (11 off 14 balls) and Heinrich Klaasen (9 in 9 balls) failed to get going to leave SRH tottering at 100 for five in the beginning of the 14th over.
The onus was then on Reddy to bail the team out, and the youngster did that with aplomb and picked 22 runs of a Harpreet Brar over to lift his side, while adding 50 runs in quick time with Samad.
(With inputs from PTI)
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