The Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) edged the Punjab Kings (PBKS) by a narrow margin of 2 runs in a thrilling Indian Premier League (IPL) encounter on Tuesday.
SRH got off to a shaky start after losing openers Travis Head (21) and Aiden Markram (0) to Arshdeep Singh in the third over. They were restricted to 66/4 at the 10-over mark.
However, youngster Nitish Reddy came to the rescue with a fiery half-century. He stitched together a crucial 50-run partnership with Abdul Samad (25) to propel SRH to a competitive 182/9 in their allotted 20 overs.
PBKS' chase began disastrously as brilliant bowling spells from Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Pat Cummins restricted them to a precarious 20/3 in the powerplay.
While Sam Curran (29) and Sikandar Raza (28) offered some resistance with cameos, they couldn't provide the stability needed for a successful chase. PBKS wickets continued to fall at regular intervals, eventually finishing their innings at 180/6. Shashank Singh's unbeaten knock of 46 went in vain.
The match also witnessed several individual milestones. Abhishek Sharma became the first uncapped player to reach 1,000 runs for SRH, reaching the mark in just 52 IPL matches.
Reddy, who struggled initially, scored his maiden T20 half-century (64 off 37 balls) after a slow start (14 runs off 18 balls).
Arshdeep Singh had a stellar performance, claiming 4/29 and reaching the landmark of 150 wickets in T20 cricket.
Sam Curran, despite his dismissal, crossed the 3,000-run mark in T20 cricket.
