Pat Cummins was a relieved captain as Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) secured a tense two-run victory over Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Match 23 of the IPL 2024 season in Mullanpur on Tuesday (April 9).
Invited to bat first, SRH were reeling at 64/4 in the 10th over. Amid the pressure situation, Nitish Reddy stepped up and crafted a crucial innings of 64 runs from just 37 balls to propel Hyderabad to a highly competitive 182/9 in 20 overs.
In reply, PBKS reached 180/6 thanks to an explosive 66-run partnership between Shashank Singh (46 not out off 25 balls) and Ashutosh Sharma (33 not out off 15 balls).
As the match entered its thrilling climax, needing 29 runs off the final over delivered by Jaydev Unadkat, SRH experience a nervy moment, dropping three crucial catches while Shashank and Ashutosh threatened to snatch victory from their grasp.
"Was a great game of cricket, they bowled really well at the start, we did well to get to 180, did pretty well to defend but got pretty close. The beauty of the Impact Player is you feel like you've got really deep batting. Always tried to be really positive to take the game on. It was really tough early on, they bowled exceptionally with the new ball. You got to be aggressive. With 150 or 160, you are probably going to lose nine out of ten games anyway. We knew that the new ball was going to be key. We were pretty happy to get to 180," Cummins said in the post-match presentation ceremony.
"Maybe conditions (on him taking the new ball), didn't think I was going to do that coming into the game. We saw what happened with the new ball for them. Bhuvi and I started off, tried to take a couple of wickets. Beauty is we've got plenty of left-armers, right-armers, so you just try and give them the best chance of success. (On Nitish) He was awesome, fantastic, debuted last week. Straight up to top of the order this week. He was fantastic in the field, bowled three overs. To get us to 180 basically off his own bat was unreal," he added.
It was SRH’s third victory in five games this season. They are currently holding the fifth spot in the team standings.
Sunrisers Hyderabad will next face Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Monday (April 15).
