Rajasthan Royals were handed a heartbreaking defeat by a spirited SunRisers Hyderabad side who snatched victory after looking down and out until the last 12 balls were bowled in a thrilling IPL 2023 match at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Hyderabad on Sunday, May 7.
Glenn Phillips and Abdul Samad shone with a stunning blitz at the end as SunRIsers Hyderabad kept their playoff hopes alive, clinching their 4th win of the season and getting off the last spot in the IPL 2023 points table.
Rajasthan Royals lost their 5th match in the last 6 matches, but the former champions remained in the 4th spot with 10 points from 11 matches.
Two days after being comfortably outplayed by defending champions Gujarat Titans, Rajasthan Royals came out all guns firing from the word go against bottom-placed SunRisers Hyderabad. A stunning 95 from Jos Buttler and 66 not out from captain Sanju Samson powered them to the highest-ever IPL total in Jaipur - 214 before Yuzvendra Chahal spun a web around the SunRisers with a 4-wicket haul.
However, all the heroics from the three big men of the Rajasthan Royals side went in vain as Glenn Phillips and Abdul Samad came up with a stunning finishing act to help SunRIsers Hyderabad pull off a sensational heist.
SunRisers needed 41 runs in the last two overs and when Yuzvendra Chahal
sent back a well-set Rahul Tripathi and captain Aiden Markram, it looked all but over for the team in Orange.
However, Glenn Phillips, who replaced Harry Brook for SRH, smashed 3 sixes and a boundary in the 19th over bowled by rookie Kuldip Yadav. SRH brought the equation down to 17 runs in the final over which was set to be bowled by Sandeep Sharma, who defended 19 runs in the final over against MS Dhoni in Chennai.
However, Sandeep was not able to keep his calm on Sunday. He bowled a no-ball in the final legal delivery of the match. The Rajasthan players started celebrating when Jos Buttler took the catch of Abdul Samad but it was called a no-ball for over-stepping.
Abdul Samad kept his composure and hit a six when 4 runs were needed off the last delivery.
The emotions changed with a minute in both the dressing rooms as SunRisers players, who had their faces buried in their hands, were jumping in delight after the final delivery was bowled.
SunRisers did not get big scores but Abhishek Sharma's fifty at the top of the order and a fine middle-overs contribution from Rahul Tripathi helped them stay afloat.
Heinrich Klaasen did not waste time as he hit 12-ball 24 in the end overs and even young Anmolpreet Singh delivered with a fine contribution at the top after coming on as an Impcat Player.