SRH vs RR: Watch - Abhishek Sharma outfoxes Shimron Hetmyer and castles him to put SRH on top
Published - 24 May 2024, 11:20 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 01:12 AM
While Abhishek Sharma could not deliver with the bat in the second qualifier against Rajasthan Royals, he made a huge impact with the ball in the second qualifier at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
With the pitch in Chennai assisting the spinners, Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper Pat Cummins decided to use Abhishek Sharma and the latter completely justified the captain's decision. He bowled his full quota of four overs only for the third time in his IPL career and picked up two huge wickets.
He first dismissed Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson to put SRH in the driver's seat before sending back the dangerous Shimron Hetmyer in the 14th over. Sharma's delivery to dismiss Hetmyer was an absolute beauty. Hetmyer was struggling to time the ball and was batting on 4 runs off 9 balls before being undone by Sharma.
The left-arm spinner bowled one on the off-stump and Hetmyer rocked back to play a punch shot. However, he misread the line of the delivery and failed to make any contact. The ball went on to hit the top of the off-stump.
Sharma finished his spell with 2 wickets for 24 runs. At the time of writing this report, SRH were reeling at 138 for 7 in the 20th over, needing 38 runs from 4 balls. The match is all but decided in the favour of SRH. The winner of the ongoing game will be playing the final against Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday (May 26).
Earlier in the game, SRH finished their innings on 175 for 9 in 20 overs. Heinrich Klaasen top-scored for the Hyderabad-based outfit. The hard-hitting batsman scored 50 runs from 34 balls with the help of four sixes. The likes of Travis Head (34) and Rahul Tripathi also made useful contributions with the bat. SRH suffered a loss against KKR in the first qualifier and will be looking to make amends in the final.