Hyderabad have reached the IPL final for a third time after a comprehensive 36-run win over Rajasthan Royals in Qualifier 2. SRH were restricted to a score of 175/9 but a masterful bowling performance led by spinners Shahbaz Ahmed and Abhishek Sharma meant that RR could only score 139/7. SRH face Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL 2024 final on Sunday in Ahmedabad. They are chasing their second IPL title, the first since 2016.
Shahbaz Ahmed, Player of the Match, said, The captain and coach told me depending on the situation we will use you, my role was to bat lower down the order and they said if we collapse we will send you. When I was batting, I felt that this wicket has something and the way Avesh and Sandeep bowled showed. I’m feeling proud at having got the Man of the Match in such a game, the atmosphere is quite relaxed in the camp. We will celebrate only after winning the final, tonight we will just relax.
Pat Cummins, SRH skipper, said, The boys have been fantastic all season. There’s a great vibe in the squad as you can see and the final was the goal at the start of the season and we made it. We knew our strength was our batting and we wouldn’t underestimate the experience we have in this squad, it’s a dream having Bhuvi, Nattu and Unadkat, makes my job easy. [on whose decision it was to bring Shahbaz as impact player] Dan Vettori, left-arm orthodox and wanted as many left-arm orthodox as possible. [on Abhishek’s bowling] That was a surprise, tried to stick one out of him with a couple of right-handers and he bowled beautifully and those two won it with their bowling in the middle overs. 170 was a tough chase and had we got a couple of wickets we knew we had a chance. I will never pretend to work out the pitch and conditions ever, different every week. It is for the whole franchise, probably 60 or 70 of them who put their heart and soul into this and hopefully one more left.
Sanju Samson, RR captain, said, It was a big game. I am really proud of the way we bowled in the first innings. We were found short of options in the middle overs against their spin, that’s where we lost the game. It’s very hard to guess actually when we are expecting some dew or when we are not. The wicket started behaving differently in the second innings, the ball started turning a bit, they used that advantage really well. They bowled their spin in the middle overs against our right-handed batsmen, that’s where they were one-up against us. Against their left-arm spin, when the ball was stopping, we could have tried a bit more reverse-sweep or maybe use of the crease a bit more. They also bowled really well. We have had some brilliant games not only this season but from the last three years, it has been a great project for our franchise. We have found some really great talent for the country.
Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel and a lot of them are looking really exciting not only for RR but definitely for the Indian cricket team. We have had some great seasons from the last three years. (On Sandeep Sharma) I am really happy for him. By not being picked in the auctions and coming back as a replacement. the way he bowled, he has definitely delivered. . If we look at the numbers, Sandeep Sharma in the last two years, he will be the next guy after Bumrah. He has done a great job. (Final) The condition suits both of them, so let’s see how they come back again in the powerplay. SRH batsmen are very interesting, they can definitely take the game away. KKR also will be confident, they look very exciting. It’ll be a great game, that’s what IPL has been giving us for the last 16 years.