Glenn Phillips and Abdul Samad’s late heroics with the bat gave Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) a much-needed win against Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Sunday. Phillips played an impactful knock of 7-balls 25, hammering three sixes and a four in the penultimate over. Defending 17 runs in the final over, Sandeep Sharma bowled well and almost won the game for RR but the pacer bowled the final delivery of the game as a no-ball. Samad dispatched the free hit delivery over the ropes and sealed a remarkable 4-wicket win for his side.

Batting first, RR had a solid start with Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Butler adding 54 runs in 5 overs. Marco Jansen bowled a slow bouncer to pick up the wicket of Jaiswal for 35. Butler and skipper Sanju Samson changed gears and started to attack SRH bowlers, hitting fours and sixes frequently.

Both put up an outstanding show and stitched a 138-run partnership for the second wicket. Butler top-scored with a superb knock of 95 while Samson remained unbeaten on a blistering 66, powering his side to reach a big total of 214/2 in 20 overs.

In reply, Anmolpreet Singh and Abhishek Sharma gave a decent start for SRH, scoring 51 runs in the powerplay overs. Needing a wicket, Samson brought Yuzvendra Chahal into the attack and the spinner did not disappoint his captain as he dismissed Singh (33). Abhishek and Rahul Tripathi made a fruitful partnership of 65 runs before Ravichandran Ashwin bagged the former (55).

Chahal then removed Heinrich Klaasen who played a cameo of 26. The leg spinner struck twice in the 18th over dismissing Tripathi (47) and Aiden Markram (6) to shift the momentum towards RR. But Phillips and Samad batted brilliantly to clinch victory.