The Sunrisers Hyderabad moved on to the IPL 2024 final, after defeating the Rajasthan Royals by 36 runs in the ‘2nd Eliminator’ on Friday night in Chennai. The win marks a big turnaround from last season when SRH finished in last place, managing only 4 wins in their 14 matches.
Heinrich Klaasen led the way with the bat for the Sunrisers, scoring a breezy 50 runs in just 34 balls, which included 4 big sixes. Travis Head and Rahul Tripathi got SRH off to a good start, scoring 36 and 37 respectively, taking advantage of the field restrictions of the powerplay. In the end, SRH managed to score 175 on a slow track after being put in to bat by the opposition.
Avesh Khan was the pick of the bowlers for the Royals, taking three wickets for just 27 runs. Tren Boult was also able to pick up three wickets but was rather expensive at the start of the innings, going for 45 in his 4 overs.
Yashasvi Jaiswal got the Royals off to a hot start in their chase but fell for a quick 42 off 21 balls to Shabaz Ahmed. The only other batsmen to put up any kind of resistance was Dhruv Jurel, who ended the innings not out on 56 runs.
With the win, the Sunrisers move on to the 2024 IPL final which is set to be played this Sunday in Chennai against the Kolkata Knight Riders. The Knight Riders qualified for the Final after winning the first ‘Qualifier’ against the Sunrisers by 8 wickets. The rematch should be closer, with SRH seemingly finding form in their last innings.
Full Match Summary
The Rajasthan Royals won the toss and opted to field on a scorching hot day in Chennai. It seemed like the right decision, particularly with one square boundary being significantly shorter than the other, which made it hard to defend totals. There was also the threat of dew in the evening which would make it hard for the spinners to grip the ball.
The Sunrisers came in with one of the most explosive opening partnerships in IPL history, with Abhishek and Travis Head averaging 13.64 runs an over this season. It looked like they would come good on the day, as Sharma dispatched a couple of early boundaries but fell in the first over to Trent Boult for 12.
Head and Tripathi then got stuck into the Royals bowling line up, getting to 55 off just 4.3 overs before Tripathi fell to Boult, caught in the deep by Chahal. Aiden Markham didn’t last long, facing just the two deliveries before Boult was able to dislodge him as well.
At 57-3, the Sunrisers looked like they were in trouble but in walked their ace in the hole, Heinrich Klassen. Klassen and Head managed to calm the nerves and push the score close to a hundred before Head was dismissed for 36. Klaasen carried on though and found a solid partner in Shahbaz Ahmed to push the score to 175 in the allotted 20 overs.
The Royals came out firing, mainly off the bat of Yashasvi Jaiswal who raced to 41 off just 19 balls. At this point, it looked like Rajasthan would run away with the match but the spinners were able to claw back. Shahbaz landed multiple deliveries in the rough and got the ball to spin, and eventually got the left-handed Jaiswal’s wicket on a mishit.
From there the spinner dug in and restricted the Royals scoring, pushing the required run rate well past 10 and over. Only Dhuv Jurel put up much of a fight, scoring an unbeaten 56 which included 7 four and 2 sixes. Ultimately, it wasn’t even close to enough, as the Royals could only muster 139 runs for seven wickets in their 20 overs, losing by 36 runs.
The Man of the Match award was given to Shahbaz Ahmed who took the prize wicket of Jaiswal and contributed with the bat towards the end of the Sunrisers innings.
