IPL 2024 Qualifier 2: Klaasen-Shahbaz partnership guides SRH to 175/9 against RR

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], May 24 (ANI): A magnificent partnership of 43 runs from 25 balls between Heinrich Klaasen and Shahbaz Ahmed guided the Sunrisers Hyderabad to 175/9 against Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League 2024 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Friday.
RR skipper Sanju Samson won the toss and elected to bowl in Qualifier 2 of the ongoing 17th edition of the cash-rich league as the winner of this game will lock horns with Kolkata Knight Riders in the final on Sunday.
Batters Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma came out to open the innings. Abhishek was dismissed in the first over after playing a cameo of 12 runs in five balls with a four and six.
After the opener's dismissal, right-hand batter Rahul Tripathi came out to bat along with Head.
The early wicket of Abhishek didn't bother the pair as they continued their attack against the Rajasthan bowlers. They brought up their side's fifty in just 4.1 overs.
The fifth over of the match bowled by Trent Boult was a good one for the Royals as the side got two scalps.
Tripathi was dismissed after playing a quickfire knock of 37 runs in just 15 balls with the help of five boundaries and two sixes. The team lost the wicket of experienced Aiden Markram who was sent back after scoring just 1 run.
At the end of powerplay (6 overs), the SRH were 68/3.
Head was dismissed on the last ball of the 10th over when the team score was 99. The wicket was taken by right-arm seamer Sandeep Sharma. The left-hand batter scored 34 runs from 28 balls which was laced with three fours and a maximum.
After the southpaw's dismissal, uncapped Indian player Nitish Kumar Reddy came out to bat.
SRH brought up their 100 in 10.2 overs as right-hand batter Heinrich Klaasen took a double on the bowling of the leg spinner Yuzvendra Chahal.
Klaasen slammed a maximum on the fourth ball of the 13th over which was bowled Chahal. It was a back-of-a-length ball around off stump which the Proteas batter slammed over extra cover without moving an inch.
In the 14th over, Avesh Khan took two wickets. First, he dismissed Nitish after scoring just five runs and Abdul Samad was dismissed on the first ball he faced.
After the completion of 15 overs, SRH were 132/6 with Klaasen (36) and Shahbaz Ahmed (3) unbeaten on the crease.
On the last ball of the 17th over, the Pat Cummins-led side touched the 150-run mark as Shahbaz took a double on the bowling of Ravichandran Ashwin.
On the penultimate ball of the 18th over, Klaasen completed his fifty as he took a single on the bowling of Boult.
Klaasen was clean-bowled on the first ball of the 19th over which was bowled by Sandeep. The wicketkeeper-batter scored 50 runs off 34 balls which included four maximums in his innings before going back to the dressing room.
Shahbaz was sent back by Avesh Khan in the 20th over. The left-hander scored run-a-ball 18 which included one six.
SRH finished their innings after scoring 175 runs with the loss of nine wickets after the completion of the first innings.
For the Sanju Samson-led side, three wickets each were bagged by Boult and Avesh in their spell of four overs where they conceded 45 and 27 runs respectively. Two wickets were taken by Sandeep in his four overs where he gave away 25 runs.
Brief Score: Sunrisers Hyderabad 175/9 in 20 overs (Heinrich Klaasen 50, Rahul Tripathi 37, Avesh Khan 3/27) vs Rajasthan Royals. (ANI)