IPL Qualifier 2: Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) have secured their place in the IPL 2024 final after a dominant 36-run victory over Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Qualifier 2. Despite a modest batting performance of 175/9, SRH’s spinners spun a web around the Royals, restricting them to a meagre 139/7.
Opting to bowl first, RR captain Sanju Samson saw his decision backfire initially. While Trent Boult provided early breakthroughs, SRH kept the scoreboard ticking, reaching a healthy 60+ in the powerplay despite losing wickets.
A promising partnership between Heinrich Klaasen (50 off 34 balls) and Travis Head (28 off 22 balls) threatened to propel SRH towards a bigger total. However, Sandeep Sharma’s sharp bowling ended Head’s innings just as the partnership gained momentum.
RR bowlers managed to chip away at the SRH batting line-up, restricting their scoring rate in the middle overs. But Klaasen found a willing ally in spinner Shahbaz Ahmed (22 off 18 balls) to add a crucial 43 runs in the latter stages.
Sandeep Sharma continued his impressive spell, dismissing the dangerous Klaasen in the 19th over, effectively extinguishing any remaining hopes for a strong RR chase. SRH’s spin duo of Shahbaz Ahmed (3/21) and Abhishek Sharma (2/29) then tightened the noose further, ensuring a comfortable victory.
Royals’ Chase Crumbles Under Spin Pressure:
Rajasthan Royals’ chase started brightly with opener Yashasvi Jaiswal smashing a quickfire 42. However, their hopes dimmed when Shahbaz Ahmed struck twice in one over, dismissing Jaiswal and the in-form Riyan Parag (6). Skipper Sanju Samson’s dismissal for just 10 runs further compounded their woes.
Dhruv Jurel offered some late resistance with an unbeaten 56, but it proved insufficient against the disciplined SRH bowling attack. Abhishek Sharma, despite scoring only 12 runs with the bat, chipped in with two crucial wickets with his part-time spin, including the dangerous Shimron Hetmyer for a meagre 4 runs.
IPL Qualifier 2: Full Scorecard
Sunrisers Hyderabad (20 ovs maximum)
| BATTING | R | B | M | 4s | 6s | SR | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Travis Head | c Ashwin b Sandeep Sharma | 34 | 28 | 42 | 3 | 1 | 121.42 | ||
| Abhishek Sharma | c Kohler-Cadmore b Boult | 12 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 240.00 | ||
| Rahul Tripathi | c Chahal b Boult | 37 | 15 | 14 | 5 | 2 | 246.66 | ||
| Aiden Markram | c Chahal b Boult | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 | ||
| Heinrich Klaasen † | b Sandeep Sharma | 50 | 34 | 64 | 0 | 4 | 147.05 | ||
| Nitish Kumar Reddy | c Chahal b Avesh Khan | 5 | 10 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 | ||
| Abdul Samad | b Avesh Khan | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | ||
| Shahbaz Ahmed | c Jurel b Avesh Khan | 18 | 18 | 32 | 0 | 1 | 100.00 | ||
| Pat Cummins (c) | not out | 5 | 5 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 100.00 | ||
| Jaydev Unadkat | run out (†Samson/Avesh Khan) | 5 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 250.00 | ||
| Extras | (lb 1, w 7) | 8 | |||||||
| TOTAL | 20 Ov (RR: 8.75) | 175/9 | |||||||
| Did not bat: Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan | |||||||||
| Fall of wickets: 1-13 (Abhishek Sharma, 0.6 ov), 2-55 (Rahul Tripathi, 4.3 ov), 3-57 (Aiden Markram, 4.6 ov), 4-99 (Travis Head, 9.6 ov), 5-120 (Nitish Kumar Reddy, 13.5 ov), 6-120 (Abdul Samad, 13.6 ov), 7-163 (Heinrich Klaasen, 18.1 ov), 8-170 (Shahbaz Ahmed, 19.3 ov), 9-175 (Jaydev Unadkat, 19.6 ov) • DRS | |||||||||
| BOWLING | O | M | R | W | ECON | 0s | 4s | 6s | WD | NB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trent Boult | 4 | 0 | 45 | 3 | 11.25 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| Ravichandran Ashwin | 4 | 0 | 43 | 0 | 10.75 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Sandeep Sharma | 4 | 0 | 25 | 2 | 6.25 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Avesh Khan | 4 | 0 | 27 | 3 | 6.75 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Yuzvendra Chahal | 4 | 0 | 34 | 0 | 8.50 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
Rajasthan Royals (T: 176 runs from 20 ovs)
| BATTING | R | B | M | 4s | 6s | SR | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yashasvi Jaiswal | c Abdul Samad b Shahbaz Ahmed | 42 | 21 | 39 | 4 | 3 | 200.00 | ||
| Tom Kohler-Cadmore | c Tripathi b Cummins | 10 | 16 | 20 | 1 | 0 | 62.50 | ||
| Sanju Samson (c)† | c Markram b Abhishek Sharma | 10 | 11 | 22 | 1 | 0 | 90.90 | ||
| Riyan Parag | c Abhishek Sharma b Shahbaz Ahmed | 6 | 10 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 60.00 | ||
| Dhruv Jurel | not out | 56 | 35 | 52 | 7 | 2 | 160.00 | ||
| Ravichandran Ashwin | c †Klaasen b Shahbaz Ahmed | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | ||
| Shimron Hetmyer | b Abhishek Sharma | 4 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 40.00 | ||
| Rovman Powell | c Abhishek Sharma b Natarajan | 6 | 12 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 | ||
| Trent Boult | not out | 0 | 3 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | ||
| Extras | (lb 1, nb 1, w 3) | 5 | |||||||
| TOTAL | 20 Ov (RR: 6.95) | 139/7 | |||||||
| Did not bat: Sandeep Sharma, Avesh Khan | |||||||||
| Fall of wickets: 1-24 (Tom Kohler-Cadmore, 3.6 ov), 2-65 (Yashasvi Jaiswal, 7.5 ov), 3-67 (Sanju Samson, 8.3 ov), 4-79 (Riyan Parag, 11.1 ov), 5-79 (Ravichandran Ashwin, 11.4 ov), 6-92 (Shimron Hetmyer, 13.4 ov), 7-124 (Rovman Powell, 17.4 ov) • DRS | |||||||||
| BOWLING | O | M | R | W | ECON | 0s | 4s | 6s | WD | NB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bhuvneshwar Kumar | 3 | 0 | 33 | 0 | 11.00 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Pat Cummins | 4 | 0 | 30 | 1 | 7.50 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| T Natarajan | 3 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 4.33 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Jaydev Unadkat | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5.00 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Shahbaz Ahmed | 4 | 0 | 23 | 3 | 5.75 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Abhishek Sharma | 4 | 0 | 24 | 2 | 6.00 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Aiden Markram | 1 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 10.00 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
This win sets up a mouth-watering final clash between SRH and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Sunday in Ahmedabad. SRH will be aiming to capture their second IPL title, eight years after their maiden triumph in 2016.
