A scintillating knock from Abhishek Sharma and Heinrich Klaasen’s fine hitting helped Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) defeat Punjab Kings (PBKS) by four wickets in their final league stage match of IPL 2024 on Sunday. With this win, SRH moved up to the second spot in the points table. Chasing 215, SRH lost their best batter Travis Head on the first ball of the innings but Abhishek and Rahul Tripathi stitched an excellent 72-run partnership to completely change the momentum of the game. Abhishek smacked 66 runs with a strike rate of 235, blasting 5 fours and 6sixes while Tripathi scored 33 off 18 balls.

SRH batters played well to continue with the momentum and never allowed PBKS bowlers to creep into the game. Klaasen departed after scoring 42 while Nitish Kumar Reddy played a crucial knock of 25-ball 37. For PBKS, Arshdeep Singh and Harshal Patel scalped two wickets each.

Earlier, Prabhsimran Singh and Atharva Taide gave PBKS a strong start, adding 97 runs for the first wicket. T Natarajan provided the breakthrough for SRH by dismissing Taide (46), who looked in good touch. Prabhsimran walked off after playing a brilliant 71-run knock. Rilee Rossouw increased the scoring rate with a valiant knock of 24-ball 49 and Jitesh Sharma provided the closing fireworks with an unbeaten 32, guiding PBKS to reach a big total of 214/5 in 20 overs. Natarajan starred with a two-wicket haul for the hosts.

SRH will take on Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Qualifier 1 on May 21, Tuesday at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Fans expect that SRH’s batting Juggernaut will help their side beat KKR and seal a spot in the IPL finals.