SRH vs RR, IPL 2024: SunRisers Hyderabad Script Nervy One-Run beats Rajasthan Royals in last-ball thriller

Bhuvneshwar Kumar made the star with a sensational final over as Sunrisers Hyderabad pulled off a heist, stunning Rajasthan Royals by just one run in a last-ball thriller to keep their IPL playoffs hopes alive on Thursday. Needing two to beat the last delivery, Bhuvneshwar (3/41) trapped Rovman Powell (27) with a full toss to leave RR trapped at 200 for seven as they chased a target of 202. Opting to bat, Nitish Reddy (76 was not out ) and Travis Head (58) produced explosive fifties, while Heinrich Klassen made an unbeaten 19-ball 42 to take Sunrisers Hyderabad to 201 for three.

Things were looking up when Bhuvneshwar removed Jos Buttler and Sanju Samson as ducks at opening to leave RR at 1-2.

However, youngsters Yashasvi Jaiswal (67) and Riyan Parag (77) created a counter-attack of the 50s en route to a massive 134-run partnership to lay the foundations of the run.

But as soon as the duo returned to the hut, Shimron Hetmyar (13) hit a four and a six as it looked like a regulation chase, but T Natarajan got rid of the long-dead Hetmyar and captain Pat Cummins removed Dhruv Jurel, who was caught at deep square leg in the 19th over.

The sudden loss of wickets gave SRH hope of a comeback but Powell produced a six off the last ball of the 19th over to reduce the equation to 13 from six balls.

West Indies kept their cool to reduce it to 2 off the last ball but Bhuvneshwar denied them glory.

After the win, SRH broke their two-match losing streak and moved to fourth position with 12 points, as did Kolkata Knight Riders, Lucknow Super Giants, while RR remained at the top with 16 points.

Chasing the total, Jaiswal and Parag were run out early in their innings and took advantage of the extra time to plot a quick comeback.

Parag broke the shackles at third when he carried Bhuvneshwar for two fours and a six. Jaiswal then hit Marco Jansen for two boundaries after Cummins spilled a straight catch.

Parag, who was bowled on 24 by Abhishek Sharma, hammered Cummins for another maximum, before taking Jansen for two more fours.

Cummins finally introduced spin into the attack but Jaiswal hit Shahbaz Ahmed for a four to complete his fifty. Three balls later, Parag played a reverse sweep four to reach his 32-ball mark.

Jaiwal then got a delivery from T Natarajan onto the stumps, while two overs later, Parag was drawn at long-on.

Earlier, Head forged a 96-run stand off 57 balls for the third wicket with Nitish, who also added another 70 off 32 balls with Klassen to take SRH to the 200-mark for the fifth time this season.

Head, who was bowled by Parag in the first ball of the innings, hit six fours and three sixes while Nitish hit eight maximums and three fours during his brutal attack.

Playing his 300th match, T20 World Cup pick Yuzvendra Chahal was in the firing line as he conceded 62 in his quota of four overs.

Avesh Khan (2/39) produced the first breakthrough, with Abhishek (12) caught at mid-wicket. Sandeep Sharma (31/1) then claimed a first-ball wicket, removing Anmolpreet Singh (5) as SRH scored 37 for 2 in the powerplay, the lowest of this IPL.

The spin duo of Chahal and R Ashwin (0/36), however, disappointed as the batsmen milked them for runs to put SRH on the road to recovery.

Chahal had a horrible night when Head hit him with two sixes and a four during a run of 18 after he bowled immediately after the powerplay.

The leg-spinner was then dismantled by Nitish, who plundered him for two sixes and two fours to accumulate 21 runs.

Nitish, who also bowled Ashwin and Avesh for two maximums, then sent Sandeep sailing through extra cover while Head pulled Avesh for another six in the 15th over.

The Australian, however, placed the pacer on middle stump as SRH slumped to 131/3.

New man Klassen joined the group, sending Chahal into orbit with straight sixes. When Trent Boult was back, Klassen picked him for two fours while hitting another six off Sandeep.

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