CHENNAI, May 24: What is the job of an impact player–to create an impact.
And it has precisely happened in the crucial IPL Qualifier-2 match between Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad which led by their spinning duo of Shahbaz Ahmed and Abhishek Sharma shared five wickets to scuttle the rivals chase and successfully defending 175 for nine.
SRH restricted its opponents to 139 for seven to win by 36 runs and enter the summit clash of the IPL for the third time, despite RR’s Dhruv Jurel remaining unbeaten with a fighting 56 runs in 35 balls with seven fours and two sixers, ploughing a lone furrow amid losing wickets at the other end.
SRH will take on KKR in the final on Sunday as RR, which started with a bang in this edition, losing their last four league matches, came back well in the play offs, but faltered when it mattered most, capitulating to the SRH spinners.
It was really a fairy tale contest for SRH despite their inconsistent show, winning and losing crucial contests, before coming back with a bang in this do-or-die contest to have a shy at the title against KKR.
Chasing a tricky target, the SRH spinners Shahab Ahmed, the impact player, after scoring 18 and adding a crucial stand with Klassen, who scored a fighting half century after the top orders failed on to build their starts, propelled the team to a total that seemed easily achievable, picked up three wickets to halt the run flow of RR, especially with the dew likely to come into play that would trouble the bowlers to grip the ball.
On a wicket in which both the left arm the spinners gained appreciable turn and bounce, the much expected dew did not come into play in the second half of the contest.
The spinners gripped the ball well, varied their line and lengths, to push the RR on the backfoot, denting its chances of a place in the summit clash.
Openers Yashaswi Jaiswal–(42, 21 balls, 4×4, 3×6) and Tom Kohler-Cadmore adding added 24 in 3.4 overs and Jaiswal and RR skipper Sanju Samson (10, 11 balls 1×4) anchored the chase with a 43 run stand for the second wicket in 3.5 overs.
Once the spinners came into the picture, the things turned head on against RR as they struggled to get runs, thanks to tight bowling by Shahabaz and Abhishek Sharma who got two wickets.
From 65 for one in 7.4 overs, RR slipped to 92 for six by the 14th over, going for big shots, amid mounting asking rate.
The important fact is that SRH is always ahead of the run rate and the spinners came to the party after initial blitz in the power play by RR batters.
Shahbaz finished with 3 for 23 in four overs and Abhishek, who was equally impressive claimed two for 24 in his quota, applying more pressure on the RR batters in the middle overs.
Both of them conceded a mere 47 runs in eight overs and in the process claimed five wickets that raised hopes of SRH’s pursuit in a place in the final.
After Natarajan got rid off Powell, Jurel kept the team in the hunt with a scinttilating half century with the tailenders in the company, but RR fell short of the target by 36 runs as SRH marched into the final with heads held high.
Scoreboard:
RR innings:
Yashaswi Jaiswal c Samad b Shahabaz Ahmed 42 Tom Cadmore c Tripathi b Cummins 10
Sanju Samson c Markram b Abhishek Sharma 10 Rriyan Parag c Abhishek Sharma b Shahabaz Ahmed 6 Dhrul Jurel (not out) 56
R.Ashwin c Klassen b Shahbaz Ahmed 0
Shimron Hetmeyer b Abhishek sharma 4
Rovman Powell c Abhishek Sharma b Natarajan 6 Trent Boult (not out) 0
Extras: (LB-1, NB-1, W-3) 5
Total:139 for seven in 20 overs.
Fall of wickets:
1-24, 2-65, 3-67, 4-79, 5-79, 6-92, 7-124.
SRH bowling:
Bhuvanesh Kumar 3-0-33-0
Pat Cummins 4-0-30-1
T.Natarajan 3-0-13-1
Jayadev Unakdat 1-0-5-0
Shahbaz Ahmed 4-0-23-3
Abhishek sharma 4-0-24-2
Adien Markram 1-0-10-0
(UNI)
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