Hyderabad: Sunrisers Hyderabad beat Kolkata Knight Riders by five wickets to storm into the play-offs of the sixth Pepsi Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Rajiv Gandhi international Stadium yesterday.
The home side achieved the 131 target with the loss of five wickets with seven balls to spare, but not before some anxious moments.
Requiring 15 off last two overs, Darren Sammy hit Abdullah for two consecutive sixes to seal the match, much to the delight of the over 32,000 crowd.
Sunrisers’ openers had scored 89 in 12th over and were looking set for a comprehensive win when loss of five wickets with the addition of just 22 runs in six overs made things suddenly difficult for them. Sammy’s hits, however, provided relief.
Earlier, Sunrisers made a brisk start with openers Parthiv Patel and Shikhar Dhawan. Patel struck two consecutive boundaries in the second over bowled by Pradeep Sangwan, who was playing only the second match of this season.
The wicket-keeper batsman then welcomed Sunil Narine with a boundary and hit two boundaries in a row to Yousuf Pathan in the next over.
Till then all six boundaries came from Patel’s willow. An aggressive Dhawan also began to open up, hitting Pathan over the fence. That over from Pathan, sixth of the inning, went for 15 runs.
The openers laid a solid foundation by scoring 45 in the first six overs.
Dhawan jumped high and hit a bouncer from Kallis over covers for a delightful six. The southpaw sent the next delivery for a boundary through extra-cover. There was no stopping this 27-year-old as he blasted two more boundaries in the next over bowled by Shami Ahmed.
It suddenly looked a different track from the one where KKR struggled for runs. With 74 for no loss in nine overs, the match was almost over.
Finally, Sammy sealed the match for the home team.
Earlier, electing to bat after winning the toss, KKR scored 130 for seven in 20 overs, thanks mainly to Pathan’s 49 not out off 29 deliveries.
In Pune, Delhi Daredevils, who topped the league standings in the last Indian Premier League, finished last this season after losing to Pune Warriors at the Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium yesterday.
IANS
