Sunrisers Hyderabad, SRH have been blowing hot and cold in this season, IPL 2024. They needed to win against Punjab Kings, PBKS and they have managed a close win with a narrow margin. Youngster Nitish Kumar Reddy, hailing from Andhra Pradesh, made a grand statement with his innings against PBKS for SRH. His innings has been the defining moment in the match.
When star batters of SRH failed to score, Nitish took the initiative and took the score beyond 180, giving his team a chance to challenge PBKS. Earlier, PBKS won the toss and elected to field first. SRH lost Travis Head(21), Abhishek Sharma(16) and Aiden Markram(0) early. Impact Sub Rahul Tripathi(11) struggled to find timing. Heinrich Klaasen also failed and Nitish Kumar Reddy rose to the occasion.
The youngster from Telugu States showcased great hitting abilities and scored 64 runs from just 37 balls. His innings helped SRH cross 170, which looked highly unlikely. With final ball six, Jayadev Unadkat took the score to 182/9 in 20 overs. Arshdeep Singh(4/29) bowled at his best in first and final overs of the innings for PBKS.
In the chase, PBKS have been reduced to 20/3 in the powerplay and they needed middle order to contribute again. Shashank Singh once again played a terrific knock and scored 46 runs off 25 balls. Ashutosh Sharma gave him great support by scoring 33 runs off 15 balls. Interestingly, in the last over, when 29 runs are needed to win, these two batters could clear boundary thrice and scored 26 runs.
With their valiant effort, PBKS could reduce the margin of their defeat to just 2 runs. SRH fielders looked sloppy and dropped important catches, regularly. Well, Nitish Kumar Reddy, a 20-year old showcased great resilience and grit. Even PBKS found two low profile cricketers scoring huge. On the whole, this match can be a defining point for these three batters.
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