Sunrisers Hyderabad beat Rajasthan Royals by 36 runs on Friday to set up an IPL final against Kolkata Knight Riders, as spinner Shahbaz Ahmed starred with three wickets.
Heinrich Klaasen smashed 50 off 34 balls to help Sunrisers post 175-9 and their bowlers combined to restrict Rajasthan to 139-7 as they reached their third IPL final, to be played in Chennai on Sunday.
Ahmed came in as an impact substitute in Hyderabad’s batting innings to score 18 runs and then returned figures of 3-23 with his left-arm spin to flatten the opposition chase.
Kolkata, who thrashed Hyderabad in the first play-off game to reach their fourth final, will meet Pat Cummins’ side again in the decider.
Commenting on reaching the final SRH skipper Pat Cummins said: “The boys have been fantastic all season. There’s a great vibe in the squad as you can see and the final was the goal at the start of the season and we made it.
“We knew our strength was our batting and we wouldn’t underestimate the experience we have in this squad, it’s a dream having Bhuvi, Nattu and Unadkat, makes my job easy.
“I will never pretend to work out the pitch and conditions ever, different every week. It is for the whole franchise, probably 60 or 70 of them who put their heart and soul into this and hopefully one more left.”
Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson the teams was found short of options in the middle overs against Hyderabad’s spin
“The wicket started behaving differently in the second innings, the ball started turning a bit, they used that advantage really well,” he said.
“They bowled their spin in the middle overs against our right-handed batsmen, that’s where they were one-up against us.
“We have had some brilliant games not only this season but from the last three years, it has been a great project for our franchise,” he added
The IPL was in the grip of a heatwave in the last two play-off matches in Ahmedabad where temperatures had soared to over 44 degrees Celsius (111 degrees Fahrenheit), but Chennai remained much cooler at 32 degrees.
Rajasthan faltered in their chase despite Yashasvi Jaiswal’s quickfire 42 before the opener fell to Ahmed and skipper Sanju Samson soon departed for 10.
Ahmed strick twice in one over, including the in-form Riyan Parag for six, and despite Dhruv Jurel’s late charge in his unbeaten 56, inaugural champions Rajasthan fell well short.
Hyderabad’s Abhishek Sharma scored 12 but returned with his part-time spin to take two wickets including the big-hitting Shimron Hetmyer, bowled for four.
Earlier Sunrisers, who had racked up record IPL totals of 277 and 287 this season, lacked firepower in their batting until Klaasen boosted the score with his fourth fifty of the season.
Rajasthan’s Trent Boult made early inroads when he got Abhishek in the first over and struck twice in the fifth to send back Rahul Tripathi, for 37, and Aiden Markram, for one.
Fast bowler Avesh Khan took two wickets in two balls, prompting Hyderabad, who won the IPL in 2016 under Australia’s David Warner, to bring in Ahmed.
South Africa’s Klaasen stood firm to reach his fifty from 33 balls and put on a key stand of 43 with Ahmed in a total which proved enough.
Brief scores:
Sunrisers Hyderabad beat Rajasthan Royals by 36 runs
Sunrisers Hyderabad 175/9 in 20 overs (Heinrich Klaasen 50, Rahul Tripathi 37, Avesh Khan 3/27)
Rajasthan Royals 139/7 (Dhruv Jurel 56*, Yashasvi Jaiswal 42; Shahbaz Ahmed 3-23).