SunRisers Hyderabad Jaydev Unadkat was mercilessly targetted by Punjab Kings' batters Ashutosh Sharma and Shashank Singh in the last over of the IPL 2024 clash between two teams at Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur on Tuesday, April 9.
SunRisers Hyderabad registered their third victory of the season with a narrow two-run victory against Punjab Kings. After posting a total of 182/9, thanks to incredible batting by debutant Nitish Reddy, SRH managed to restrict PBKS to 180/6. Ashutosh Sharma played a valiant knock of 46 off 25 balls while his batting partner Shashank Singh scored an unbeaten 33 off 15 balls.
However, Ashutosh and Shashank gave a real scare to SunRisers Hyderabad in the final over of the match. Skipper Pat Cummins brought Jaydev Unadkat into the attack when PBKS required 29 runs off 6 balls to win the game. But, Unadkat conceded 26 runs in the final over of the PBKS' run-chase.
Unadkat was smashed for a six by Ashutosh Sharma, thanks to Nitish Reddy's blunder of dropping a catch near the boundary line. SRH pacer conceded two wides in the next two deliveries before the ball was parried over the ropes after Abdul Samad mistimed the catch.
On the third and fourth delivery, Jaydev Unadkat gave away just two runs each, after which he conceded the third wide of his final over. On the fifth ball, Rahul Tripathi dropped an easy catch offered by Ashutosh at deep mid-wicket. With nine runs off 1 ball required to win, Shashank Singh smashed a six off Unadkat to hand over an SRH just two-win run.
Punjab Kings were at 154/6 in 19 overs and the carnage by Ashutosh Sharma and Shashank Singh took the visitors to 180/6 in 20 overs.
'Youngsters chipping in with consistency': Shikhar Dhawan
Punjab Kings skipper Shikhar Dhawan lauded Ashutosh Sharma and Shashank Singh for stepping up for the when they were needed the most. He added that their presence at the crease gave the team a hope of pulling off the chase.
"It's great to see youngsters chipping in with such consistency (on Shashank and Ashutosh). There was always hope that they could finish the game, but we got so close and that'll give us confidence going into the future games, but we'll have to do better going ahead." Dhawan said at the post-match presentation.
In the match against Gujarat Titans, Shashank and Ashutosh stepped up for Punjab Kings and pulled off 200-run chase. Shashank Singh played a match--winning unbeaten knock of 61 off 29 balls, while Ashutosh Sharma chipped in with a cameo innings of 31 off 17 balls.
Meanwhile, after defeat against SunRisers Hyderabad, Punjab Kings slipped to sixth spot on the points table with just four points after five matches.
