Samad, Phillips pull off sensational heist in blockbuster run-chase for SRH

The Indian Premier League delivered another nail-biting finish on Sunday night in Jaipur, with the Sunrisers Hyderabad sneaking past the Rajasthan Royals in a last-ball thriller at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium. The Royals remained in cruise control after Jos Buttler’s 95 led them to 214 for 2 batting first, but the Sunrisers pulled off an extraordinary heist in the chase.

Invaluable contributions from Abhishek Sharma, Heinrich Klaasen, and Glenn Phillips laid the platform for Hyderabad before Abdul Samad bested Sandeep Sharma in a drama-filled final over to provide the blockbuster finishing act.

Needing five to win off the final ball, Rajasthan thought they had emerged victorious after Samad sent the ball down long-off’s throat. But the tables flipped when the umpires signalled that Sandeep Sharma overstepped, forcing the seamer to re-bowl the final delivery. Sharma attempted another yorker but missed his mark, allowing Samad to free his arms and smash one down the ground for six to win the game in sensational fashion.

While Samad clinched the victory for Hyderabad at the death, the chase was set up by the Sunrisers’ top-order. The new opening pair of Abhishek Sharma and Anmolpreet Singh gave SRH a brisk start, adding 51 runs for the first wicket. RR briefly pulled things back with a few tight overs through the middle, but Abhishek Sharma and Rahul Tripathi found some timely boundaries to keep SRH in the hunt.

Sharma departed for a well-made 55, leaving 98 runs needed off 42 balls, but Klaasen kept the runs flowing with a blistering cameo of 26 from 12, while Rahul Tripathi collected a pair of boundaries against M Ashwin and Obed McCoy. Chahal evened the scales with a superb 18th over that cost just three runs and included the wickets of Tripathi and Markram. However, Glenn Phillips set up the grandstand finish with a sublime knock of 25 from 7, allowing Abdul Samad to finish off the game in the final over.

Earlier, Rajasthan’s top three delivered a batting masterclass to post a menacing total of 214. Yashasvi Jaiswal kicked things off with a quickfire 18-ball 35, taking the Royals to 54 for 1 in five overs. Jos Buttler and Sanju Samson carried on Jaiswal’s momentum, launching three sixes in a single Markande over before going after part-timer Abhishek Sharma to take the hosts to 107 for 1 at the halfway mark.

Buttler reached his fifty in just 32 deliveries and kept finding the boundaries through the back half of the innings before falling to a Bhuvneshwar Kumar yorker for 95. The Englishman added 138 runs in just 81 balls alongside Sanju Samson, who managed an unbeaten 66 to push Rajasthan past 200.