SRH Secure Second Place with Thrilling Win Over Punjab Kings in IPL 2024
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) clinched a stunning victory against Punjab Kings (PBKS), chasing down a formidable 214-run target with five balls to spare.
Abhishek Sharma’s explosive 66 off 28 balls was the highlight, propelling SRH to a well-earned win that secured their second-place finish in the league standings.
Rilee Rossouw smashed 49 at a strike rate over 200, Jitesh Sharma provided the last fireworks with 32 not out off 15, and Prabhsimran Singh and Atharva Taide put on 97 for the first wicket off 55 balls. For a victory, they put Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at 215.
And yet Punjab Kings (PBKS) felt that was insufficient. Not quite enough to stop SRH’s batting juggernaut in the 2024 Indian Premier League. After losing their finest batsman, Travis Head, to injury in the opening ball, they stormed through the powerplay with strikes from Abhishek Sharma (66 off 28) and Rahul Tripathi (33 off 18), taking the score to 84 for 2 at the end of their opening six overs.
Until the objective was in sight, the scoring didn’t really slow down after that. Heinrich Klaasen’s 42 off 26 put SRH in the driver’s seat. With five balls remaining, the winning runs were scored.
Is it appropriate for us to discuss the bowlers? Only T Natarajan of SRH managed to escape with respectable scores, going 2 for 33.
SRH now sits second in the standings. Following the cancellation of Rajasthan Royals’ final league match against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Guwahati, it was confirmed that they will finish and play the Qualifier 1 versus KKR.
Prabhsimran and Taide’s Explosive Opening Stand
But, mostly due to their strong start to the game, PBKS had reason to believe they would end the season with a victory and place outside of the bottom two. In his 71 off 45, Prabhsimran hammered all four of his sixes on the leg side, demonstrating his exceptional form. With 27, Taide made 46.
After the young Jaffna legspinner Vijayakanth Viyaskanth removed Prabhsimran in the fifteenth over, things kind of slowed down. Even though Jitesh had a good finish, PBKS may have faltered between overs 15 and 18 (both inclusive). At the beginning of that passage, they were 151 for 1, and they were ready to push 250. They were 186 for 5 at the conclusion of the eighteenth over.
Also Read: Sunrisers Hyderabad Win Maiden IPL Title with Tight Victory Over RCB In 2016
Abhishek lights up Hyderabad Again
Abhishek provided the supporters of the SRH a performance to remember during their final home game of the season, which was dominated by batting. He blasted five fours and six sixes in all, smashing his first two sixes over fine leg, when bowlers pitched short-of-a-length balls into the body. While good timing was necessary for the majority of shots, there was also some luck involved—one of the sixes landed off the outside edge.
Although he reached 50 from 21 balls quickly, this was only his third quickest half-century of the season; in previous weeks, he had reached 50 off 16 and 19 balls.
The backbone of SRH’s chase was the 72-run partnership between Abhishek and Tripathi, which came off 29 balls. The required rate appeared mild even after they were parted.
Klaasen Delivers a Methodical Inning
Even with Abhishek’s spectacular performance, SRH required 86 runs from the final 59 balls after he was out, and Klaasen produced one of his more relaxed innings. He continued to hit sixes when it felt good, of course, with the most impressive coming from Harpreet Brar’s bowling, which had just produced a ball of standard length outside off stump.
However, as the wickets dropped all around him, someone had to step up and bring the chase home. Brar bowled Klaasen when SRH needed seven runs to win off of eleven balls. He’d gotten them close enough, though.
Heinrich Klaasen: ‘I Hit a Couple Today That Put a Smile on My Face’
The Sunrisers last played on May 8, so Klaasen is grateful for the break and says they’ll enter the playoffs with a new mindset.
After overcoming a minor decline in form, Heinrich Klaasen will feel as though he is back to his best going into the IPL 2024 playoffs. On Saturday night in Hyderabad, he scored 42 off 26 against Punjab Kings to aid his team in easily chasing down 215; he also made a few shots along the way that “put a smile” on his face.
Klaasen commented, “I haven’t hit it nicely over this period of time,” following the game. “I tried to solve it by going back into the nets, and I found something that was helpful. And tonight I did manage to nail one or two that made me smile.”
In his first six innings of the season, Klaasen has hit 253 runs with a strikeout rate of 199.21 and an average of 63.25. His subsequent six strikes, which included this one in Hyderabad against PBKS, yielded 128 runs at a 25.60 average and a 158.02 strike rate. This streak includes two four-ball runs against Mumbai Indians and twenty-one-ball runs against Chennai Super Kings, both of which resulted in losses for the SRH.
When asked what he believed was causing his form to deteriorate, Klaasen replied, “I haven’t looked at the ball at all.” I was also moving much too much. Then I discovered something. I put myself up against the other men in the nets, [such as the spinners]. And then everything just clicked once more.
“I simply returned to the fundamentals of simply observing the ball, staying still, and responding. And at last it did come off, which makes me very happy.”
A long layoff for SRH, partially owing to weather conditions and partly by purpose, would have been beneficial for Klaasen in this aspect. They had last played at home on May 8 against the Lucknow Super Giants, and on May 16 their home game against the Gujarat Titans was called off without a pitch. That was a blessing in disguise, Klaasen conceded.
“It couldn’t have come at a better time for us, to be honest,” he stated. “The past few months have not been easy. The timing of the itinerary, in my opinion, was ideal for us. Following the IPL, the playoffs will be mentally rejuvenated, and naturally, the [T20] World Cup will follow. Thus, I believe that break was sent from above.”
However, Klaasen and company will have to wait to find out which playoff they will play in. They are now one point ahead of the Rajasthan Royals in third place on the points table after their victory over PBKS. Later in the evening, the Royals take on the league-leading Kolkata Knight Riders in the season’s final league game.
Klaasen grinned and replied, “Yeah, we’ll definitely be awake and supporting KKR tonight.”
