Samad finished it off: SRH's Glenn Phillips recalls last-over drama

JAIPUR: Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) hard-hitting batter Glenn Phillips was quite delighted to win the match for his team and gave credit to the pinch hitter Abdul Samad for his heroics in the last over of the run chase against Rajasthan Royals (RR).

Another nerve-wracking last-over finish saw Sunrisers Hyderabad notch their fourth win of the season, a much-needed one, as they beat Rajasthan Royals in a thriller. Samad provided a blockbuster finish with a last-ball six in a drama-filled last over from Sandeep Sharma as SRH chased 215 to keep their hopes alive in IPL 2023.

Phillips brought down the equation from 41 runs required to win to 17 from the last over as he scored 25 runs in 7 balls.

"It was a situation where it was going to go one of two ways. Happy to get out on top of this one. We are all here to do our job, this is what the team needed today. Fantastic for it to pay off, and I had so much fun today out there. (On his dismissal) That was the ball I should have hit the most, I was disappointed the actual slot ball didn't go over the fence," Phillips said in a post-match presentation.

Blistering cameos under pressure from Phillips (25 off 7) and Samad (17* off 7) powered the away team past the finish line.

"I felt I left a lot out there with 17 needed off the final over, but then Samad did what he did and obviously, we got that little bit of luck with the no ball," Phillips added.

Coming to the match, Sunrisers Hyderabad beat Rajasthan Royals in a thriller in Match 52 of TATA IPL 2023 at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.

Abdul Samad provided a blockbuster finish with a last-ball six in a drama-filled last over from Sandeep Sharma as SRH chased 215 to keep their hopes alive in IPL 2023. Impactful knocks from Abhishek Sharma (55 off 34) and Rahul Tripathi (47 off 29) laid the platform for SRH before Glenn Phillips (25 off 7) and Samad (17* off 7) powered the team past the finish line. Earlier, Jos Buttler had put on a T20 batting masterclass to entertain Jaipur with a scintillating innings of 95(59) while captain Sanju Samson had played the support act of 66 (38) to take RR to a daunting 214/2.

Chasing 215, Sunrises Hyderabad got off to a brisk start courtesy of openers Anmolpreet Singh and Abhishek Sharma. Impact Player Anmolpreet was the chief aggressor with four fours and a six in the Powerplay as SRH brought up their 50 in the sixth over.

Chahal then came into the attack and broke the 51-run stand as he had Anmolpreet caught at deep mid-wicket as RR reached 51/1 at the end of the first six overs. RR kept things tight post powerplay, giving away just 21 runs from 7-9 overs. Rahul Tripathi and Abhishek Sharma then pressed the accelerator button by taking 14 runs off Murugan Ashwin over.

The duo brought up the fifty-run stand and Tripathi too reached his half-century with a thumping six over deep mid-wicket off R Ashwin. But the wily spinner struck back, having Abhishek (55 off 34) caught at short third man off the next ball. RR brought on Obed McCoy as their Impact Substitute in place of R Ashwin in the 13th over. Tripathi and Klaasen though continued to attack and hammered a couple of sixes and a four off Murugan Ashwin to make it a 19-run over.

Klaasen joined the party straightaway, going after Chahal and cracking a six and a four but it was Chahal who had the last laugh as he had Klaasen caught at long off in the same over to provide a huge moment in the match with the equation reading 57 needed off 24 balls.

Rahul Tripathi got lucky as he was dropped by Samson after gloving his pull to the keeper. He rubbed salt onto RR's wounds by smacking a six next ball. Markram opened his boundary account via a pullover fine leg to make it 13 off the 17th over.

With 44 needed off 17, Chahal provided another crucial moment as he struck two blows, having Tripathi (47 off 29) caught at deep mid-wicket and trapping Aiden Markram LBW two balls later. He bowled a brilliant over picking two wickets and giving away just three runs to finish with fantastic figures of 4-0-29-4. With 41 needed off 12, Glenn Phillips started the penultimate over with a bang, smashing three sixes off the first three balls, off Kuldip Yadav. The fourth ball was slashed past the short third-man fielder for a four. Phillips then went for another big one off the next ball but ended up mistiming it to extra cover where Hetmyer pulled off a superb catch running backwards. The drama-filled over saw 24 runs scored along with the wicket of the dangerous Phillips.

With 17 needed off the last over, Samson tossed the ball again to Sandeep Sharma. He nearly struck the first ball as Abdul Samad sliced one to short third man where Obed McCoy dropped it and conceded two. Samad then smashed a six next ball, over long on where Root nearly pulled off a fantastic effort. With 9 needed off 4, Sandeep finally nailed his yorker as Samad jammed it to long off and scampered through for a couple. The next one brought just a single as Samad mistimed his loft to long off. With six needed off two, Jansen flicked a low full toss straight to mid-wicket for just a single. The drama wasn't over yet. With five needed off the last ball, Sandeep thought that he had Samad caught at long off, off the last ball and won the match but the buzzer went off at the ground for a no ball and replays showed he had overstepped. No ball. It was chaotic. With 4 needed off the last ball, Samad smashed it straight down the ground for a flat six to win a thriller for SRH. It was SRH's highest successful run chase in IPL.