Abhishek, Klaasen's fiery knocks guide Sunrisers Hyderabad to victory over Punjab Kings

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], May 19 : Fiery knocks from Abhishek Sharma and Heinrich Klaasen guided the Sunrisers Hyderabad to chase down 215 against Punjab Kings with five balls to spare in the Indian Premier League 2024 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Sunday.
Chasing a mammoth total of 215 runs, the SRH didn't have the start which they wanted as Travis Head was sent back to the pavillion on the first ball of the innings.
After Head's dismissal, Rahul Tripathi came out to bat along with Abhishek Sharma. Both the batters put on a partnership of 72 runs before Tripathi was dismissed after scoring 33 runs in just 18 balls with four boundaries and two sixes.
After Tripathis's wicket, the team score was 72/2 in 5 overs.
The next batter who came to bat was Nitish Reddy and the duo was able to build a partnership of 57 runs before Abhishek was dismissed after playing magnificent innings 66 runs in just 28 balls which was laced with five boundaries and six maximums.
After Abhishek's dismissal, the Hyderabad franchise's total was 129/3 in 10.1 overs.
The next player who came to bat along with Nitish Reddy was their wicketkeeper-batter Heinrich Klaasen.
The home side completed the 150-run mark on the last ball of the 12th over as Klassen slammed a maximum on the bowling of Rahul Chahar.
Nitish Reddy was dismissed after playing a brilliant knock of 37 runs in 25 balls with the help of three maximums and one four.
Following Nitish's wicket, left-hand batter Shahbaz Ahmed came out to bat. He was able to score only three runs before going back to the dressing room.
After Shahbaz's wicket, the host's score was 197/5 in 16.5 overs.
At the score of 208, Klaassen was dismissed after scoring 42 runs in 26 balls which was laced with three fours and two sixes.
The Hyderabad franchise chased down the total with five balls remaining in the match.
For the PBKS, the pick of the bowlers were Arshdeep Singh and Harshal Patel who bagged two wickets each in their spell of four overs where they conceded 37 and 49 runs respectively. One wicket each was taken by Harpreet Brar and Shashank Singh in their respective spells.
Earlier in the day, the Punjab Kings stand-in skipper Jitesh Sharma won the toss and elected to bat first in the 69th match of the ongoing 17th edition of the cash-rich league.
Openers Atharva Taide and Prabhsimran Singh started the innings with a very positive intent. Both the players brought up the side's half-century in the sixth over.
The Kings lost their first wicket in the 10th over. Taide was dismissed after scoring 46 runs in just 27 balls with the help of five fours and two sixes in the innings. The wicket was taken by T Natarajan when the team score was 97.
After Taide's wicket, left-hand batter Rilee Rossouw came out to bat in the middle.
Prabhsimran completed his fifty in the 11th over, while the team completed the 100-run mark.
The Kings touched the 150-run mark in 13.5 overs as Prabhsimran took a single on the bowling of Natarajan.
Prabhsimran was the second wicket to fall. He was dismissed after playing a marvellous innings of 71 runs in just 45 balls which was laced with seven boundaries and four maximums.
After Prabhsimran's wicket, the team score was 151/2 in 14.2 overs.
The two rising stars of this season, Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma failed to score runs in their last match of the campaign as both were out just scoring 2 runs each.
Rossouw played a crucial knock for his side where he missed a well-deserved half-century. The South African was dismissed after scoring 49 runs in 24 balls which included three fours and four sixes.
In the end, the wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma played a quickfire unbeaten cameo of 32 off 15 with two fours and two sixes.
For the SRH side, the highest wicket-taker was Natarajan who snapped two wickets in his spell of four overs where he conceded 33 runs. One wicket each was grabbed by Pat Cummins and Vijaykanth in their spell of four overs where they conceded 36 and 37 runs respectively.
Brief Score: SunRisers Hyderabad 215/6 in 19.1 overs (Abhishek Sharma 66, Heinrich Klaasen 42, Arshdeep Singh 2/37) vs Punjab Kings 214/5 in 20 overs (Prabhsimran Singh 71, Rilee Rossouw 49; T Natarajan 2/33).