PIX: Sunrisers demolish Punjab Kings to finish second

Images from the IPL match between Punjab Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad, at the Rajiv Gandhi stadium, Hyderabad, on Sunday.

• SCORECARD

Abhishek Sharma scored yet another explosive half-century as Sunrisers Hyderabad beat Punjab Kings by four wickets in the IPL match in Hyderabad on Sunday.

Opting to bat on a flat track, Punjab Kings posted an imposing 214 for 5,  riding on Prabhsimran Singh's 45-ball 71 and skipper Jitesh Sharma's final over heroics.

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

The victory enabled Sunrisers finish in second place on the table with 17 points from 14 matches.

The day’s second match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals in Guwahati was abandoned due to rain.

Rajasthan Royals finished third with 17 points following the rained-ruined match against KKR.

Kolkata Knight Riders, who topped the table 20 points, will face Sunrisers Hyderabad in Qualifier 1, while Rajasthan Royals will take on Royal Challengers Bengaluru in a high-stakes Eliminator clash.

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 6 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 contributions in the demolition act.

Shashank Singh dismissed Abhishek against the run of play The batter was beaten by a slower delivery and ended up gifting a catch to Shivam Singh in the covers.

But with SRH in top gear at 129 for 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.

By then SRH needed seven runs from 10 balls and Sanvir Singh sealed the issue with a four off the first ball of the final over.

Earlier, Prabhsimran Singh set the tone with a quickfire fifty before skipper Jitesh Sharma finished it off in style as Punjab Kings posted an imposing 214 for 5.

The new-look opening pair of Prabhsimran and Vidarbha's Atharva Taide put on 97 runs off 55 balls as PBKS did well to go through the Powerplay without losing a wicket after opting to bat.

Prabhsimran smashed seven fours and four sixes in his 45-ball 71, while Taide will regret missing out on a fifty after being dismissed for a well-made 46 off just 27 balls, which included 5 fours and 2 sixes.

After his departure, Prabhsimran and Rilee Rossouw put together 54 off 32 balls to keep the momentum going in the middle overs.

It looked one-way traffic at 151 for 1 in 14 overs when leg-spinner Vijayakanth Viyaskanth dismissed the well-set Prabhsimran off a quicker delivery that took a faint edge and Heinrich Klaasen did well to take a one-handed catch behind the stumps.

Cummins (1/36) ended his spell with the wicket of Rossouw, who fell one run shy of a half-century in the 18th over.

That left two new batters at the crease -- Jitesh Sharma and Ashutosh Sharma.

T Natarajan (2/33) did well to remove the inform Ashutosh in the penultimate over.

PBKS went on to lose four wickets for 44 runs in five overs before stand-in skipper Jitesh's last over assault took them to a fighting total.

Jitesh (32 not out from 15 balls; 2x4, 2x6) finished with two sixes against Nitish Kumar Reddy in a 20-run final over.

It was a fearless batting display by Punjab Kings, who had nothing to lose while playing the last match of the season.

There was no Jonny Bairstow or Liam Livingstone -- the English duo who have left home for national duty -- but the PBKS batters never felt their absence after they opted to bat.

Following a tidy start by Cummins and Bhuvneshwar Kumar where the duo conceded just 12 runs, Prabhsimran took on the veteran Indian seamer slamming him for consecutive boundaries.

Left-hander Taide then got into the act in Natarajan's opening over, when he dragged one from outside off to through mid-on and followed it up with a mighty pull.

The diminutive Punjab batter Prabhsimran added to their misery, hammering a 145kph delivery from Cummins over deep square leg with sheer timing.

Taide also matched his senior partner Prabhsimran and took on Bhuvneshwar with a six and four, as PBKS cruised to 61 for no loss in the power play and the home side looked desperate in search of a breakthrough.

Natarajan finally broke the opening partnership in the 10th over with a short and widish delivery to dismiss a well-set Taide.

But Prabhsimran continued his belligerent batting in the company of Rossouw and raced to a 34-ball fifty, his second this season in the 11th over.

His big assault came in Nitish Reddy's next over when the duo spanked him for 20 runs two sixes and one four as there was no stopping PBKS.

• IPL 2024