IPL: Abhishek explosive fifty powers Hyderabad to easy win against Punjab

Hyderabad: Abhishek Sharma bossed Punjab Kings bowlers with yet another explosive half-century as Sunrisers Hyderabad cruised to a four-wicket win in the IPL here on Sunday. Opting to bat on a flat track, Punjab Kings posted an imposing 214/5 riding on Prabhsimran Singh’s 45-ball 71 and skipper Jitesh Sharma’s final over heroics.

But SRH looked in complete control of the tall chase after losing Travis Head off the first ball and chased down the target with five balls to spare.

The win took them second place in the table with 17 points from 14 matches as they would need to wait for the result for the match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals.

Rajasthan, who have 16 points, can topple SRH for the prized No 2 spot with a win over KKR in Guwahati.

Finishing inside top-two gives the teams an extra chance of making the final.

Abhishek went about his business with utmost nonchalance for a 21-ball fifty, his third half-century of the season.

He smoked six sixes and five boundaries in his knock of 66 from 28 balls to completely tilt the equation in their favour.

Henrich Klaasen (42; 26 balls) Rahul Tripathi (33; 18b) and Nitish Reddy (37; 25b) made handy contribution in their complete domination act.

Shashank Singh dismissed Abhishek against the run of play with the batter getting beaten by a slower ball and ended up gifting a catch to Shivam Singh at covers. But with SRH in top gear at 129/2 at the midway stage, the chase was just a formality and Klaasen continued their strong momentum, slamming three fours and two sixes. Looking to seal the chase, the South African wicketkeeper-batter was bowled by Harpreet Brar in the final over.

But by then, SRH just needed seven runs from 10 balls and Sanvir Singh sealed the issue with a four in the first ball of the final over.

Earlier Arshdeep gave SRH an early blow, cleaning up the dangerous Travis Head for a golden duck. After losing a wicket of the first ball, SRH showed little sign of panic with Rahul Tripathi seizing the momentum in a 18-ball 33.

Playing only his second match of the season, Tripathi took Rishi Dhawan to clearners with two fours and one six in a row that set the tone for their tall chase.