In the match number 44 of Indian Premier League (IPL), on Saturday Rising Pune Supergiant beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 12 runs at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad, in a closely fought encounter.
There can’t be a better sight in cricket than to enjoy the batsman scoring a century or bowler celebrating his hard-fought hat-trick, it was the evening for fast bowler Jaydev Unadkat, who claimed a hat-trick which further added the flavour, as he did not concede a single run in his final over.
With this emphatic win, Rising Pune Supergiant jumped to number two on IPL points table with 16 points in 12 games replacing Kolkata Knight Riders side, which has 14 points to their name in 11 matches.
Rising Pune Supergiant bowlers made a strong comeback while picking wickets at the regular intervals. Jaydev Unadkat was the pick of the bowlers, who bagged five wickets conceding 30 runs in four overs which also included a maiden. Ben Stokes, on the other hand, claimed three wickets in his quota of four overs by giving away 30 runs.
In reply to 148 of Supergiant, the hosts failed to achieve the target, as they fell short by 12 runs following the brilliance from Stokes and Unadkat, who claimed the hat-trick when he dismissed Bipul Sharma (8 off 7 balls), Rashid Khan (3 off 4) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar ( 0 off 1) in the final over of the second innings.
Playing the significant role when wickets were falling at the other end, the left-handed batsman Yuvraj Singh held his nerve to score a crucial 47 off 43 balls before being dismissed by Jaydev Unadkat when Rahul Tripathi caught the catch in the deep.
In 18th over, Naman Ojha (9 off 9 balls) was caught by Ben Stokes on a slower one which took the leading edge of the bat when latter aimed to clear the boundary line at the long-off area. Moises Henriques (4 off 6 balls) was dismissed by Imran Tahir when the latter went for the full-blooded cut before the ball took the inside edge of the bat and rolled onto the stumps.
In 13th over when the Sunrisers Hyderabad’s score was 83, Ben Stokes claimed his third wicket, who was brought into the attack by Steven Smith before David Warner (40 off 34 balls) played straight into the hands of Shardul Thakur, who took the catch at sweeper cover region.
In the fifth over, Stokes claimed two wickets. On his very ball after the bowling change, he cleaned up the left-handed batsman Shikhar Dhawan (19 off 12 balls) on an off-cutter which further kept low and cannoned into the stumps. New Zealand recruit Kane Williamson (4 off 2 balls), who has been among runs in this season for Sunrisers, was dismissed cheaply when he nicked the ball straight into the gloves of Dhoni.
After hosts skipper David Warner won the toss, the aggressive Australian batsman decided to bowl first at home, in a bid to chase down the target. Rising Pune Supergiant was sent in to bat first and was restricted by the hosts on 148 for eight in 20 overs.
The pick of the bowlers for them was Siddarth Kaul, who picked up four wickets after conceding 29 runs in four overs. Moises Henriques and Bipul Sharma claimed a wicket each. Daniel Christian was removed by Siddarth Kaul when Rashid Khan completed a simple catch on 4 off 2 balls before Manoj Tiwary (9 off 5 balls) trudged off the ground after Bhuvneshwar Kumar dislodged the zing bails at non-striker’s end.
Shardul Thakur was caught by David Warner on the bowling of Siddarth Kaul on nought before Washinton Sundar remained unbeaten on 1 off three deliveries. Skipper Steven Smith, who anchored the innings, scored 34 off 39 balls which interestingly did not include even a boundary or a six.
Smith alongside Ben Stokes posted a 60-run partnership for the third wicket. After being dropped by Bipul Sharma, Smith was caught by latter on the bowling of Siddarth Kaul.
While losing wickets at the regular intervals, wicket-keeper batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni held at the other end while scoring 31 off 21 balls which included two sixes two fours respectively. Dhoni was caught by wicket-keeper Naman Ojha on the bowling of Siddarth Kaul.
Ben Stokes, who seemed to found the momentum with the bat since he smashed a century against Gujarat Lions, scored 25-ball 39. His innings was laced with three sixes and a solitary boundary.
Stokes was undone by Rashid Khan soon after Naman Ojha claimed a catch that hit his helmet grill before settling into his gloves. Ajinkya Rahane was then caught by Yuvraj Singh on the bowling of Bipul Sharma on 22 off 20 balls.
Rahul Tripathi, who has been in the form of his life returned to the pavilion cheaply after scoring just a single off four balls when Bipul Sharma’s direct hit from the fine-leg found him short of the crease.