ABHISHEK SHARMA scored 59 off 20 balls to help Sunrisers Hyderabad beat Lucknow Super Giants by six wickets on Monday, ending Lucknow’s chances of making the IPL playoffs.
Chasing 206 for victory, Abhishek set the tone with an innings that included four fours and six sixes. Hyderabad reached the target with 10 balls remaining in Lucknow.
He was dismissed in the eighth over. Heinrich Klaasen, who made 47, and Kamindu Mendis, who retired hurt on 32, added 55 runs for the fourth wicket to take the team close to the target.
With the loss, Lucknow became the fifth team to be knocked out of the playoff race. Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals remain in contention for the final spot.
"Definitely it could have been one of our best seasons but coming into the tournament we had a lot of gaps, injuries," said Lucknow captain Rishabh Pant. "As a team we decided to not talk about that but it became difficult to fill those gaps."
Gujarat Titans, Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru have already qualified for the playoffs, which begin on May 29.
Sunrisers Hyderabad were already out of the race, but captain Pat Cummins said the win “gives (us) a lot of confidence for next year”.
Abhishek began attacking after losing his opening partner Atharva Taide, who was dismissed by New Zealand pacer Will O'Rourke on his IPL debut.
Abhishek reached his fifty in 18 balls, hitting five sixes including three in a row off Ravi Bishnoi. He hit one more six before being dismissed by leg-spinner Digvesh Rathi.
Hyderabad lost Ishan Kishan on 35 before Klaasen and Mendis steadied the chase. Klaasen missed out on a fifty while Mendis retired hurt with a foot injury. Nitish Reddy and Aniket Verma completed the chase.
Earlier, Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram added 115 runs for the opening wicket to set up Lucknow’s total of 205-7.
Marsh top-scored with 65, including six fours and four sixes, and Markram made 61. Nicholas Pooran contributed 45 off 26 balls.
The rest of the Lucknow batters could not reach double figures. Rishabh Pant was dismissed for seven, caught and bowled by Eshan Malinga.
Pant has scored just 135 runs in 11 innings this season. Lucknow had bought him for $3.21 million in the November auction.
The team also had injury concerns with pacers Avesh Khan and Mayank Yadav before and during the tournament.
Eshan Malinga finished with 2-28 from four overs.
Pooran was run out in the final over, where two run outs and another wicket fell.
The IPL resumed on Saturday after a pause due to a conflict between India and Pakistan. The final will now take place on June 3.
(With inputs from agencies)
