IPL 2023: Abdul Samad’s last-ball six pulls off a miracle win for SunRisers Hyderabad against RR in Jaipur

Abdul Samad’s last-ball six pulled off the highest successful run-chase for SunRisers Hyderabad as they hunted down 215 against Rajasthan Royals with four wickets in hand.

Winning the toss and electing to bat first looked like the best call for Rajasthan Royals. The batter in hottest form, Yashasvi Jaiswal, started from where he left, leaving everyone, including the commentators in awe of his game. His partner, and perhaps the best T20I batter, Jos Buttler, finally found his lost mojo as he smashed the bowlers to all parts of the ground. 

Following Jaiswal’s wicket inside the Powerplay, captain Sanju Samson joined Buttler in the middle, and what happened next turned heads all over. Both made sure they put up a show worth remembering for all the viewers as they stitched a 138-run stand that saw Buttler approaching his first hundred of the season.

He, however, fell shy of the three-digit score by just four runs as Bhuvneshwar Kumar trapped him in the middle on a well-made 96. Sanju remained unbeaten on 66 from 38 balls, hitting four fours and five sixes as Rajasthan scored a daunting 214 for two in 20 overs.

SunRisers Hyderabad – whose batting unit hasn’t clicked this season, brought in the impact player Anmolpreet Singh alongside Abhishek Sharma to open the innings. Anmol had the run rate going for them, scoring 33 before Yuzvendra Chahal picked him in his first over. 

Promising Abhishek Sharma delivered with the bat again as he completed his second fifty of IPL 2023. A strong partnership with Rahul Tripathi kept SRH in the chase. Ravi Ashwin, RR’s best bowler, then accounted for Abhishek’s wicket as he got out on 55 from 34 balls.

South Africa’s Heinrich Klaasen joined in and went about his business straightaway. As he looked like taking the game away from the hosts, Chahal, with a flighted delivery, picked him up on 26 from 12 balls. Tripathi, who then took the onus on himself, hit a few boundaries before falling prey to Chahal’s deceiving flight that helped him bag his third wicket of the night. He added one more to kitty by removing SRH captain Aiden Markram just two balls later.

New Zealand’s Glenn Philips, who replaced Harry Brook in the XI, made all the difference as he hit 22 runs from the 19th over to bring the equation to 19 from seven balls. It took an incredible effort from Shimron Hetmyer in the outfield to dismiss him.

The drama unfolded in the final over as SunRisers Hyderabad pulled off their highest-ever run-chase in IPL. With five needed off the last ball, Sandeep Sharma dismissed Abdul Samad, caught in the deep long-off, only to discover that he overstepped. With four now required off the last ball, Samad smashed one over Sandeep’s head to hand his team a famous win by four wickets.