Leveraging a crucial no-ball to the last ball from Sandep Sharmathe Sunrisers grabbed the cliffhanger to register for their fourth win of the season.
As the Sunrisers shot down a challenging 215 target, Aiden Markram and co. he recorded the third most successful chase in the history of the competition.
With 17 needed for final over and 4 needed for last ball, power-hitter Abdul Samad he hit a six off the last ball to help the Sunrisers record a memorable victory. With the thrilling victory, the Sunrisers also kept their playoff hopes alive as Rajasthan suffered their third defeat on the trot.
It happened
The foundations of the chase were laid by world-class batsmen Abhishek Sharma (55) and Rahul Tripathi (47), but it was Glenn Phillips’ 7-ball 25 cameo that turned the game around and reignited the chase.
Phillips picked up 22 runs in the penultimate over before going out but provided a big window for the visitors to rally in the chase. Samad and Marco Jansen then held their nerve to wrest victory from the jaws of defeat in the final over.
SRH needed 17 runs from the final to be overtaken by Sandeep with Samad and Jansen in the corner. Samad hit a six off second ball to leave the equation with five runs from his last delivery as drama unfolded.
Everyone thought Samad was out with Jos Buttler getting a catch near the boundary, but the umpire called for a no-ball and the last delivery was dismissed.
SRH needed four runs to win but Samad (17 not out) then dispatched Sharma’s delivery for a six to reach 217 for 6 and take one of the most improbable wins in the IPL, leaving the RR players in shock.
Number six batsman Phillips (25 off 7 balls) played a crucial part in the turnaround of SRH’s fortunes as they needed 69 in the last five overs albeit with eight wickets in hand.
Phillips spiced up the high chase by hitting three consecutive sixes and a four out inexperienced pacer Kuldip Yadav in the penultimate over to boost hopes of a stunning victory.
In the end, spinner RR Yuzvendra Chahal’s nice attempt (4/29) went in vain, although at one point it looked like a comfortable win for RR.
SRH started the chase on a cautious note as they missed fireworks in the powerplay overs at the end of which they were 52 for 1 with impact player Anmolpreet Singh becoming Chahal’s first casualty.
Ravichandran Ashwin (4-0-35-1) also kept things tight and the SRH batsmen had a hard time reaching the boundaries.
At half-way, SRH were 87/1, needing a further 128 from the back end and asking rate close to 13 in an over.
Abhishek (55) is dropped after hitting Ashwin for a six for the second time in the 13th over with the Indian first spinner having the last laugh.
In the next, Rahul Tripathi hit a four and two sixes to pick up 19 runs from Murugan Ashwin.
Heinrich Klaasen, who had previously hit a four and a six, then gave the RR pitch some anxiety with a six and four off Chahal in the 16th over before bowling in the fifth ball of that over with Jos Buttler having took a well rated outlet long off.
Previously, the Royals amassed 214 for 2, thanks to a crafty 95 from England opener Jos Buttler and an unbeaten 66 from captain Samson.
After an opening stand of 54 runs off Yashasvi Jaiswal (35), Buttler (95 off 59 balls) sewed up a further 138 runs off Samson (66 not out) in 13.3 overs to guide the Royals to a large total after picking to beat.
Buttler dropped a well deserved century to go out at penultimate with five runs down. He hit 10 fours and four sixes during his crafty innings.
Samson’s unbeaten run of 38 balls was studded with four boundaries and five sixes.
The SRH bowlers looked clueless throughout the innings with all those bloody runs.
The Royals made a spirited start, making it 61 to one at the end of the powerplay, thanks to a quick 35 off just 18 balls from the talented Jaiswal who has continued his fine form this season to reach 1000 IPL runs.
The youngster hit two tops over Bhuvneshwar Kumar (4-0-44-1) and Marco Jansen (4-0-44-1) as well as five fours, but crashed due to a soft red card by the latter in the fifth over.
Jansen grabbed an extra rebound off a slower offcutter and Jaiswal simply lobbed the ball into T Natarajan’s hands.
The pace continued as the hosts were 107 to 1 at the half with Samson one short punishing the SRH bowlers and scoring his first fifty in six games.
Samson targeted Mayank Markande for special treatment as he hit three massive sixes from the hapless bowler in the ninth over which yielded 21 runs.
Buttler, who was relatively quiet in the first part of his inning, began to spread his arms after settling well.
The Buttler-Samson duo kept the run rate above 10 runs throughout, hitting 150 in the 15th over as the SRH bowlers became increasingly clueless about how to break the partnership.
The Royals duo continued to get sixes every time as they bowled over the SRH bowlers having laid a solid foundation. The Royals added 60 runs in the last five overs.
Samson hit two more sixes off Markande in the 16th over and then hit his third fifty in the 18th over off 33 balls.
Buttler was out five points short of a hundred in the penultimate with Bhuvneshwar Kumar picking a scalp after a review.
(With inputs from PTI)
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