Hyderabad enter the play-offs on the back of a nervous five-wicket win over Kolkata.
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Dhawan exhibits the shot of the match.HYDERABAD: They contrived to make it tough on themselves, but in the end unheralded Sunrisers Hyderabad heaved across the line against Kolkata Knight Riders by five wickets, to enter the last-four of the IPL as the most peripheral team of that lot.
In doing so, Hyderabad signaled the end of Royal Challengers Bangalore’s campaign, who needed Sunrisers to lose on Sunday for them to qualify.
It was a brilliant all-round performance by this season’s most surprisingly successful team, and it took two huge heaves by Darren Sammy to provide the icing on a cake that had been baked by Parthiv Patel (47) and Shikhar Dhawan (42), and by a superlative show by Sunrisers’ bowlers, who had restricted KKR to just 130.
Hyderabad will now meet Rajasthan Royals on May 22 in the Eliminator at the Feroz Shah Kotla in New Delhi.
Lurching ahead
The home team looked set for a romping win when Patel and Dhawan added 89 in 11.3 overs to sway the contest. Parthiv was the initial aggressor as he dispatched Pradeep Sangwan and Yusuf Pathan repeatedly to the fence, and Dhawan matched his partner’s gait, his stand-out shot being a six chopped off Jacques Kallis over cover, both feet off the ground.
The home team needed 42 from 47 balls when the slide began, to the tune of five wickets for just 23 runs. Dhawan was out ‘lbw’ trying to reverse sweep left-armer Iqbal Abdullah. The same bowler sent Patel on his way with a straighter one, and Hanuma Vihari, having dutifully run-out out captain Cameron White, brought the side to 108/4 when he played a most hideous shot, again against Abdullah.
Thisara Perera’s unfortunate bowled off Shami Ahmed would have sent shivers up the Sunrisers’ camp, especially after Sunil Narine’s sensational maiden, but Sammy’s consecutive strikes off Abdullah, with as many required, proved to be decisive.
Pathan show
Earlier, Gautam Gambhir sent his team in as he wanted to ‘bat freely’, now that the pressures of qualifying for the play-offs were no longer in place. The lack of motivation, however, backfired as Kolkata were unable to get a move on in the face of tight opening spells by pacers Dale Steyn and Anand Rajan .
Manvinder Bisla and his captain wasted too many balls at the start and were out without correcting their slow ways. Steyn then dismissed a lethargic Kallis after the South African had plodded to a 29-ball 24. Leggie Kedar Sharma kept it tight and pushed the visitor’s further into a hole when he trapped the dangerous Eoin Morgan on the sweep.
Ryan ten Doeschate’s ouster to an Amit Mishra googly was a further dent. But Pathan wore the cloak of responsibility alone, smashing three huge sixes, one of which came off a stunned Steyn. The burly batsman single-handedly pulled KKR up to 130/7, which turned out me almost too much for a nervous Hyderabad.
Dhawan exhibits the shot of the match.HYDERABAD: They contrived to make it tough on themselves, but in the end unheralded Sunrisers Hyderabad heaved across the line against Kolkata Knight Riders by five wickets, to enter the last-four of the IPL as the most peripheral team of that lot.In doing so, Hyderabad signaled the end of Royal Challengers Bangalore’s campaign, who needed Sunrisers to lose on Sunday for them to qualify.
It was a brilliant all-round performance by this season’s most surprisingly successful team, and it took two huge heaves by Darren Sammy to provide the icing on a cake that had been baked by Parthiv Patel (47) and Shikhar Dhawan (42), and by a superlative show by Sunrisers’ bowlers, who had restricted KKR to just 130.
Hyderabad will now meet Rajasthan Royals on May 22 in the Eliminator at the Feroz Shah Kotla in New Delhi.
Lurching ahead
The home team looked set for a romping win when Patel and Dhawan added 89 in 11.3 overs to sway the contest. Parthiv was the initial aggressor as he dispatched Pradeep Sangwan and Yusuf Pathan repeatedly to the fence, and Dhawan matched his partner’s gait, his stand-out shot being a six chopped off Jacques Kallis over cover, both feet off the ground.
The home team needed 42 from 47 balls when the slide began, to the tune of five wickets for just 23 runs. Dhawan was out ‘lbw’ trying to reverse sweep left-armer Iqbal Abdullah. The same bowler sent Patel on his way with a straighter one, and Hanuma Vihari, having dutifully run-out out captain Cameron White, brought the side to 108/4 when he played a most hideous shot, again against Abdullah.
Thisara Perera’s unfortunate bowled off Shami Ahmed would have sent shivers up the Sunrisers’ camp, especially after Sunil Narine’s sensational maiden, but Sammy’s consecutive strikes off Abdullah, with as many required, proved to be decisive.
Pathan show
Earlier, Gautam Gambhir sent his team in as he wanted to ‘bat freely’, now that the pressures of qualifying for the play-offs were no longer in place. The lack of motivation, however, backfired as Kolkata were unable to get a move on in the face of tight opening spells by pacers Dale Steyn and Anand Rajan .
Manvinder Bisla and his captain wasted too many balls at the start and were out without correcting their slow ways. Steyn then dismissed a lethargic Kallis after the South African had plodded to a 29-ball 24. Leggie Kedar Sharma kept it tight and pushed the visitor’s further into a hole when he trapped the dangerous Eoin Morgan on the sweep.
Ryan ten Doeschate’s ouster to an Amit Mishra googly was a further dent. But Pathan wore the cloak of responsibility alone, smashing three huge sixes, one of which came off a stunned Steyn. The burly batsman single-handedly pulled KKR up to 130/7, which turned out me almost too much for a nervous Hyderabad.
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