IPL 10, Match 44, SRH vs RPS: 5 Game Changing Moments

Super Saturday kicked off with a cracking match between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rising Pune Supergiant at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad as the visitors clinched the match in a last over thriller. The RPS would be buoyed with the winning streak they are currently at.

After posting a par score of 148. the Steve Smith led side were able to defend the score with the help of their incredible bowling at the death. Sunrisers fell short of the required target by 12 runs in the end and Jaydev Unadkat was adjudged as the man of the match for his game-changing spell at the death and in the ultimate over.

With this win, Rising Pune Supergiant is galloped into the second position and are only behind the Mumbai Indians. Let us look at some of the game-changing moments in the game.

1. Bipul Sharma all over RPS to draw first blood 

Sunrisers Spinner Bipul Sharma effected the dismissal of top three batsmen in the RPS rank which included the prized wicket of Rahul Tripathy, skipper Steve Smith, and Ajinkya Rahane. In the second over of the match, he removed the in-form Tripathy with the help of some brilliant fielding. He later deceived Rahane with his flight and dip as he induced a mistimed shot. Few overs later, he took a decent catch to put an end to the sluggish innings from Steve Smith.

2. Middle-order resurgence from RPS

After the departure of Rahul Tripathy and Ajinkya Rahane within the powerplay, Steve Smith, Ben Stokes and MS Dhoni steadied the ship of the Pune Supergiants as they added 104 runs cumulatively. Smith played an uncharacteristic inning with his 39-ball 34. He slow strike rate was covered up by Ben Stokes who scored a brisk 39 off just 25 balls to provide necessary momentum for his team. MS Dhoni, as he has done for several years now, finished the innings off and helped post a par score of 148.

3. Sunrisers make a comeback at the death

With RPS all set for an onslaught at 99-2 in the 15th over, the visitors suffered a batting collapse of as they lost 6 wickets in the next 6 overs. Despite MS Dhoni taking Bhuvaneshwar Kumar to the cleaners yet again by scoring 17 of his over, RPS could only manage about 50 in the final six overs. None of the batsmen after MS Dhoni could even manage a score of a double digit. Siddharth Kaul was majorly responsible as he picked up four wickets during the phase to change the course of the game.

4. Yuvraj Singh and Warner partnership

After losing Kane Williamson and Shikhar Dhawan early in the innings, Yuvraj Singh and David Warner stitched a valuable partnership of 54 which harboured Hyderabadi hopes of winning the match. David Warner looked to play in his similar counter-attacking manner and but could not find the middle of the bat easily on a slow pitch. Still, the skipper managed to score a 34- ball 40 and was ably supported by Yuvraj Singh who took it upon himself to finish the match. Yuvi did well to score his 43-ball 47.

5.  Jaydev Unadkat’s hat trick and five-wicket haul

Much like the RPS innings, Sunrisers were crucially placed at 83-2 at the 13th over. But the wicket of Warner sparked a collapse as they lost as many as 7 wickets in the next 7 overs. Unadkat picked up the vital wickets of Yuvraj Singh and Naman Ojha to deflate the hopes of the home team.

He followed it up with a hat-trick in the final over by dismissing Bipul Sharma, Rashid Khan and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar in successive deliveries. With 12 need of the last over, Unadkat held his nerves and Hyderabad fell short of the required target by 12 runs as he bowled a maiden-hat-trick over.