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Sunrisers Hyderabad qualified for the IPL final with a 36r un win over Rajasthan Royals in Qualifier 2 in Chennai on Friday, May 24, 2024.
Sent in to bat, SRH posted 175 for nine, riding on Heinrich Klaasen's 34-ball 50 and contributions from Travis Head (34) and Rahul Tripathi (37).
In reply, RR could manage just 139 for 7 in 20 overs with Yashasvi Jaiswal (42) and Dhruv Jurel (56 not out) doing the bulk of the scoring.
The batters who batted best on the night...>
Heinrich Klaasen
For the second match in a row, Klaasen walked out to bat in the Powerplay.
Klaasen, who is renowned for his ability to attack the bowlers, had start off with the task of rebuilding the innings in the middle overs.
The South African is a dangerous batter against spinners and he was quick to latch on the short ball from Yuzvendra Chahal, pulling the leg-spinner for a six over mid wicket in the eighth over.
But Royals' bowlers did well to squeeze the flow of runs as SRH couldn't hit a single boundary for four overs in a row.
Klaasen batted cautiously to score 21 from 20 balls before he decided he had enough of the singles. He flat-batted the length ball from Chahal over long off for a 89 metre six.
SRH were dented further when Avesh Khan picked up two wickets in his second over. Klaasen's footwork against spin was impressive as he again rocked back to pull the short ball from Chahal for a six over mid wicket -- his third against the leg-spinner.
Klaasen then hammered a full delivery back over Trent Boult for a six before taking a single to race to his fifty from 33 balls to play a vital role in taking SRH past the 150 run mark.
However, he couldn't provide the finishing touches as Sandeep Sharma cleaned him up with a searing yorker in the 19th over.
Rahul Tripathi
After Abhishek Sharma's early departure, Rahul Tripathi took the attack to the Royals' bowlers in the Powerplay.
With Travis Head also taking time to get going, Tripathi went on the offensive. He got going as he swept Ravichandran Ashwin over short fine leg for a four before playing a cracking punch off Trent Boult through the covers for another boundary.
Tripathi took Ashwin to the cleaners in the fourth over. He lofted the senior spinner over mid off for a boundary and played a delightful late cut off a wide delivery for another four.
Ashwin's full toss was despatched over fine leg for a six as he got 16 runs from the spinner's second over.
He then attacked Boult, flicking the Kiwi pacer over fine leg for a six and then cut the next for a boundary past point. However, he was dismissed by Boult, deceived by the slower bouncer as he edged trying to upper cut and was caught at short third man.
Tripathi smashed his way to 37 from 15 balls, with five fours and two sixes, to revive SRH after an early wicket. Courtesy of his counter-attack SRH managed to get back the initiative as they raced to 68/3 in six overs.
Yashasvi Jaiswal
Chasing 176, Rajasthan Royals needed a good start if they had to assert themselves in the contest.
And Yashasvi Jaiswal started his innings with a single and then ended the opening over with a six over long leg.
The wicket got slower and Jaiswal found it hard to find the big shots at will, early in the inning but got a boundary off Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the 3rd over.
He was a bit tentative as was his running between the wickets with fellow opener Tom Kohler-Cadmore's at the other end.
With Kohler-Cadmore dismissed and just 32 runs scored off the first five overs, Jaiswal decided to step on the pedal when Bhuvi bowled the 6th over.
Jaiswal clobbered his senior statesman for 19 runs -- 6, 4, 4, 0, 4, 4, 1 -- for a strong finish in the Powerplay.
But in the next over Jaydev Unadkat gave just 5 runs to put the pressure back on Rajasthan.
Jaiswal welcomed spinner Shahbaz Ahmed with a six -- reverse sweeping the ball for a maximum over deep backward point.
But the bowler got his revenge in the same over as Jaiswal came down the track and miscued a heave, caught by Rahul Tripathi at long off. He scored at a strike rate of 200, hitting four boundaries and 3 maximums.
Jaiswal didn't have a consistent season but came good in both play-off matches -- he scored 45 off 30 in Qualifier 1 against the Kolkata Knight Riders and scored another quickfire 42 off 21 balls.
His return to from augurs well for India heading into the T20 World Cup.
Dhruv Jurel
Rajasthan lost Jaiswal and Captain Sanju Samson in quick succession to bring out Dhruv Jurel in the middle.
With no dew, the wicket was beginning to get difficult to score on.
Jurel had to be content with scoring in singles and twos and hit the odd six against Aiden Markram. But once he lost Riyan Parag, Ravichandran Ashwin and Shimron Hetmyer inside three overs, he took the onus on himself to lead the chase.
With the run rate climbing to over ten an over, Jurel launched a late counter attack, punishing Shahbaz Ahmed for back-to-back fours -- a full ball is reverse swept over backward point for a four. And he followed that up with an inside out stroke over extra cover.
Jurel took to the attack and hit Abhishek Sharma for two fours before getting a lucky six offf Pat Cummins the following over.
His knock raised some home among RR fans but it was becoming much too much of a single-handed effort with Rovman Powell caught out at deep mid wicket for 6.
With 52 needed off 18 balls, Jurel pulled Cummins for a six off the first ball of the next after which he brought up his half-century with a pull shot to the lleg side off the next ball of the over -- his 2nd half-century of the season.
He remained unbeaten on 56 off 35 but could not see his team into the IPL final. That said, Jurel gave us a glimpse of his talent and ability,
Jurel's innings was decorated with 7 hits to the boundary and 2 strikes that crossed the boundary.
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