The Sunrisers Hyderabad beat Trinidad and Tobago by four wickets in their Champions League Group B fixture in Mohali on Tuesday night.
Hyderabad, who opted to field first, were set a decent yet achievable target of 161 runs to win, which they did in dramatic fashion with just three balls to spare.
Thisara Perera, who spearheaded the Sunrisers run-chase, finished on 57 not out and deserves most of the credit for keeping his team in the contest during a trying period midway through the innings.
Together with Karn Sharma he put on 22 runs for the seventh wicket and those runs came off just nine balls.
The Hyderabad run-chase actually got off to somewhat fortuitous start, as Parthiv Patel was dropped off the first ball of the innings, much to Ravi Rampaul’s dismay.
Nevertheless the Hyderabad batsmen were undeterred by what had transpired and produced a 35-run partnership for the first wicket.
During the fourth over of the innings Patel misjudged a delivery from Rayad Emrit and was subsequently struck on the helmet. After some observation and treatment the Hyderabad opener continued batting. However, he was subsequently dismissed by Sunil Narine for 17 runs.
Shikhar Dhawan was dismissed for 23 runs shortly after that, which meant that Hyderabad would need to do some rebuilding, as there were two new batsmen at the crease.
The two partnerships that followed were not of much substance and Hyderabad soon found themselves on 95-4 and in considerable trouble.
However, Perera and Darren Sammy put up considerable resistance before creating a platform which put their team in a position to execute an unlikely victory. Hyderabad required 21 runs in the last three overs and at this juncture, the balance of power had shifted heavily in their favour.
However, the spin bowling of Narine had Sammy caught behind for 15 runs during the 18th over. During his time at the wicket Sammy contributed to a 47-run partnership with Perera.
Nevertheless, his departure brought Ashish Reddy to the crease. Suffice to say, he didn’t spend much time there as he was caught and bowled by Narine off the first ball he faced. Perera continued to spearhead the Hyderabad run chase, as he struck boundary after boundary.
Hyderabad needed seven runs off the last over, with Sharma on strike. Sharma missed the first delivery but struck the next ball to the boundary. Sharma then finished the match in emphatic fashion with a lusty blow for six over the midwicket boundary.
Earlier in the evening Darren Bravo produced a delightful innings, which helped Trinidad and Tabago score 160-8 in their allotted 20 overs. Bravo, batting a three for this fixture, made his way to the middle after just one ball.
He replaced opening batsman Lendl Simmons, who was caught behind off the bowling of Dale Steyn after playing a rash stroke.
Bravo and Evin Lewis then put on 49 runs or the second wicket. Both batsmen played aggressive cricket and scored their runs at 8.90 runs to the over. Critically though, the West Indian team had managed to achieve some stability.
Ishant Sharma made the crucial breakthrough in the sixth over, when he had Lewis caught behind for 22 runs. Jason Mohammed joined Bravo at the crease and together they produced a stunning 61-run partnership.
The duo scored at more than seven runs to the over, which was thanks in part to an aggressive display from Bravo, who contributed 42 runs to that partnership. However, as is so often the case, the aggression came at a cost.
Bravo was eventually dismissed for 66 runs off the bowling of Sharma. The Trinidad batsman scored his runs off just 44 balls during an innings which featured four mammoth sixes.
Bravo’s dismissal did stifle the Trinidad momentum somewhat but there was at least a suitable platform for the lower order batsmen to build on.
Dinesh Ramdin and Navin Stewart exploited this platform when they produced a quick-fire 29 runs for the sixth wicket. Ramdin was eventually dismissed for 21 runs off 15 balls, while Stewart managed to hold on to the very end.
Stewart was dismissed in the final over when Thisara Perera dismantled his wickets. Stewart scored 17 runs off just 13 balls during his stay at the wicket.
