Bhuvneshwar Kumar put in a player-of-the-match performance as SRH came back from the dead and beat RR at home.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar took two wickets in the very first over of the Rajasthan Royals innings as they chased a target of 202 against SRH on Thursday. While that is a disastrous start to any chase, let alone a steep one, RR seemed to have turned the tables completely 10 overs later as Yashasvi Jaiswal and Riyan Parag ensured they lost no more wickets after that and put them in cruise mode. After their partnership ended on 134 off 78, Rovman Powell and Shimron Hetmyer seemed to be keeping RR on track. SRH, however, pulled it back right at the end and it was Bhuvneshwar who capped it off as well.
Bhuvneshwar won player of the match for his figures of 3/41(AFP)
T Natarajan dismissed the dangerous Hetmyer in the 18th over after which SRH captain Pat Cummins got Dhruv Jurel in the 19th. Powell ended that over with a six which left RR needing 13 to win off the last over. Bhuvneshwar bowled to R Ashwin and the latter managed to get off strike first ball. He then nailed a yorker on the stumps second ball that Powell dug out and ran two off. Bhuvneshwar missed the yorker third ball and Powell sent that through fine leg for a four, leaving RR needing six off three.
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Bhuvneshwar then incredibly bowled two perfect yorkers after that and the batters ran two runs off both balls, leaving RR needing two to win off the last. Bhuvneshwar speared in a full toss on middle and leg, Powell swung across the line and missed it. SRH appealed and the finger went up, which meant that, regardless of what happens with the review that Powell took, any runs wouldn’t have counted and SRH won the match. The replays confirmed the umpire’s decision and so Bhuvneshwar got a third wicket as a cherry on top.
‘Wasn’t thinking much about the result in the last over’
Bhuvneshwar’s performance comes just a couple of days after India announced their squad for the 2024 T20 World Cup. The 34-year-old was never in contention to make the squad and sure enough, his name is unsurprisingly missing from the list of pacers. He said that there were no plans before the last over.
“I wasn’t thinking much about the result in the last over. There was no discussion in the last over, was just focussed on the process. Was thinking just about bowling two good balls, anything could have happened,” he said in the presentation ceremony after the match. “The ball swung so much, can’t really pinpoint, really enjoyed it. Luckily got wickets today. When the season started thought process was different, but it changed when the batters played in such a way,” he added.
