IPL 2023: Abdul Samad’s last hand triumphs over heroics Incredible victory by the Sunrisers Hyderabad by four wickets

Incredible victory by the Sunrisers Hyderabad by four wickets

The heroic deeds of Abdul Samad came to an end. Incredible victory by the Sunrisers Hyderabad by four wickets

Sunrisers Hyderabad notched their fourth victory of the season, a much-needed one, when they defeated Rajasthan Royals in a thriller during Match 52 of the TATA IPL 2023 at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. The match was played on April 15, 2023.


As SRH chased 215 to keep their hopes alive in IPL 2023, Abdul Samad produced a spectacular finale with a last-ball six in Sandeep Sharma’s dramatic last over. With this hit, Abdul Samad provided a blockbuster finish. Impactful innings by Abhishek Sharma (55 off 34) and Rahul Tripathi (47 off 29) created the foundation for SRH, and then blazing cameos under pressure from Glenn Phillips (25 off 7) and Samad (17* off 7) drove the away side beyond the finish line to win the match.

Earlier, Jos Buttler had put on a T20 batting masterclass to delight Jaipur with a sparkling innings of 95 (59), while skipper Sanju Samson had performed the support act by scoring 66 (38). Together, they had powered RR to a formidable total of 214/2.

Anmolpreet Singh and Abhishek Sharma, the openers for Sunrisers Hyderabad, got the team off to a strong start as they were attempting to chase 215. During the powerplay, it was Impact Player Anmolpreet who was the primary aggressor, scoring four fours and a six. This allowed SRH to reach their 50-run mark in the sixth over. After that, Chahal entered the fray and ended the 51-run partnership when he had Anmolpreet caught at deep midwicket. This brought the RR score to 51/1 after the first six overs of the game.

After the powerplay, RR maintained things under control, allowing just 21 runs over the next 7–9 overs. After that, Rahul Tripathi and Abhishek Sharma stepped on the gas by scoring 14 runs off Murugan Ashwin’s over. The pair contributed fifty runs to the total, and Tripathi scored his half-century by hitting a six shot over deep mid-wicket off of R Ashwin.

However, the crafty spinner responded by getting Abhishek, who had scored 55 runs off 34 balls, caught at short third man off the next ball. In the 13th over, RR removed R. Ashwin from their lineup and replaced him with Obed McCoy as their impact substitute. Tripathi and Klaasen, on the other hand, did not stop their assault and hit Murugan Ashwin for a couple of sixes and a four, which resulted in the game being won by 19 runs.

However, it was Chahal who got the final laugh when he had Klaasen caught at far off in the same over to offer a significant turning point in the game with the equation reading 57 required off 24 balls. Klaasen joined the party right away by going after Chahal and hitting a six and a four. However, it was Chahal who had the last laugh.

After gloving his draw shot to the keeper, Rahul Tripathi was really fortunate when Samson dropped it for him. By smashing a six with the next ball, he added insult to injury for RR. Pulling the ball over fine leg, Markram became the first player to reach a boundary, bringing the score to 13 off the 17th over.

With 44 required off 17, Chahal supplied another important moment by striking two blows. He had Tripathi (47 off 29) caught at deep midwicket, and then two balls later, he trapped Aiden Markram leg before wicket. He finished the game with excellent numbers of 4-0-29-4 after bowling an outstanding over in which he took two wickets and allowed only three runs to score.

Glenn Phillips opened the last over with a bang, slamming three sixes off the first three balls off Kuldip Yadav. This was necessary since 41 needed to be scored off of 12. A four was scored when the fourth ball was hit in such a way that it went beyond the short third-man fielder. The next ball, Phillips attempted another big one off of it, but he ended up mistiming it to extra cover, where Hetmyer made a fantastic catch while racing backwards. In the exciting over, 24 runs were scored, and the dangerous Phillips was removed from the game. The day was full of drama.

Samson gave the ball to Sandeep Sharma for a second time when they needed 17 runs from the last over. He came close to striking the opening ball when Abdul Samad slashed one to short third man, but Obed McCoy fumbled it, which resulted in two runs being given away. The next ball, Samad hammered a six over far on, where Root came dangerously close to pulling off a magnificent performance. With 9 required off 4, Sandeep finally nailed his yorker as Samad smashed it too far off and scampered through for a couple. Samad scored two runs.

The next one only produced a single because Samad mistimed his loft and made it too far off. Jansen flicked a low full delivery straight to midwicket for only a single when the team needed six runs off of two overs. The drama had not yet come to an end. Sandeep believed that he had Samad caught at long off on the final ball and that he had won the match;

however, the buzzer went off at the ground for a no ball, and replays indicated that he had overstepped the boundary line. With five required off the last ball, Sandeep felt that he had won the match. No ball. It was complete anarchy. Samad hammered it right down the ground for a flat six to win the game for SRH in a nail-biting thriller with four runs still required off the final ball. It was the most successful run chase that SRH has ever had in the IPL.

Earlier, the Rajasthan Royals took the field to bat after winning the coin toss. They made three substitutions in the starting eleven, with Joe Root, Kuldip Yadav, and Murugan Ashwin taking the places of Devdutt Padikkal, Trent Boult, and Adam Zampa, respectively. Root was making his first appearance in the game. As their replacements, they announced that they will be using Devdutt Padikkal, Riyan Parag, Jason Holder, Obed McCoy, and Adam Zampa.

Sunrisers Hyderabad made changes to their starting eleven as Rahul Tripathi, Glenn Phillips, and debutant Vivrant Sharma replaced Mayank Agarwal, Harry Brook, and Kartik Tyagi. It was determined that Harry Brook, Anmolpreet Singh, Mayank Dagar, Nitish Reddy, and Sanvir Singh would be on the replacements’ list for the away squad.

As he has done throughout the IPL 2023 tournament so far, Yashasvi Jaiswal immediately went on the offensive by hitting Bhuvneshwar Kumar for a pair of fours in the opening over of the match. He then flipped one to fine leg, but it came just short of Vivrant Sharma, who misread it and allowed it through for the second four of the over. He then hit one uppishly, which cleared midfield by inches, and then he hit one to the fine leg, where it fell just short of Vivrant Sharma.

Buttler, too, got into the swing of things early with a shot to fine leg that was for four runs, and then Jaiswal ended the second over bowled by Marco Jansen by smashing a six that travelled 88 metres into the bleachers.

Buttler hit a four over extra cover off of T. Natarajan, and then Jaiswal hit a 90-metre maximum over long on off of Bhuvneshwar as the pair continued to assault. RR reached 61/1 at the conclusion of the powerplay after Jaiswal had blasted a pair of fours off Jansen to bring up the team’s fifty in the fifth over. However, the South African all-rounder got the last laugh when he had Jaiswal caught at short third man off the penultimate ball of the over. Jaiswal had scored 35 runs off 18 balls.

After that, Sanju Samson and Jos Buttler went on a rampage against Mayank Markande and smacked him for three sixes in the space of a single over. Buttler took the assault to Abhishek Sharma as well, and the two of them took 12 runs off the 10th over to bring RR’s score to 107/1 at the halfway point of the game. Buttler brought up his fifty off of just 32 balls, and the pair brought up the 100-run stand off of just 60 balls.

The duo kept the scoreboard ticking with at least a four or six in every over as they brought up the 100-run stand off of only 32 balls. Both batsmen continued their assault on Markande, smacking sixes apiece to bring the total for the 16th over up to 14. While Bhuvneshwar was returning to the field, Buttler dispatched him with three fours as RR hammered 50 runs in the four-over period from 14–17.

After that, Natarajan came in to offer some relief, allowing just five runs to be scored against him in the 18th over as Samson reached his fifty off 33 balls. Buttler was out for 95 after being trapped leg before the wicket by Bhuvneshwar Kumar, whose review was successful.

This brought an end to the 138-run partnership. Bhuvneshwar bowled an outstanding over, allowing only seven runs to be scored while also taking the wicket of Buttler with a magnificent yorker that trapped him leg before. Samson, on the other hand, had a strong finish, hitting Natarajan for a couple of fours and a six in the penultimate over to help lead RR to an intimidating total of 214/2. Samson stayed undefeated with 66 points after 38 rounds.

At the beginning of their batting innings, SRH replaced T. Natarajan with Anmolpreet Singh as their impact player. Anmolpreet Singh took over for T. Natarajan.

With thanks to: IPLT20