Pat Cummins said it was a ‘great game of cricket’ after Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) beat Punjab Kings (PBKS) by 2 runs in a nervy 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) clash at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur on Tuesday. Hyderabad’s third win in five matches to stay fifth, above Punjab in the 10-team table.
IPL 2024: Punjab Kings vs Sunrisers Hyderabad – HIGHLIGHTS
Nitish Kumar Reddy, a 20-year-old batting all-rounder, pulled Hyderabad out of early trouble to guide them to 182-9 after being invited to bat first. Punjab looked down and out at 114-6 but Shashank (46) and Sharma (33) put on an unbeaten stand of 66 off 27 balls to give Hyderabad a scare as Punjab ended on 180-6. Cummins looked a relieved captain after left-arm quick Jaydev Unadkat just about defended 29 runs in the last over, which witnessed three dropped catches in the deep.
“Was a great game of cricket, they bowled really well at the start, we did well to get to 180, did pretty well to defend but got pretty close. The beauty of the Impact Player is you feel like you’ve got really deep batting,” Pat Cummins said at the post-match presentation.
“Always tried to be really positive to take the game on. It was really tough early on, they bowled exceptionally with the new ball. You got to be aggressive. With 150 or 160, you are probably going to lose nine out of ten games anyway. We knew that the new ball was going to be key. We were pretty happy to get to 180,” he added.
Cummins praised Reddy for his batting, one wicket and a catch as well.
“He was awesome, fantastic debut last week,” Australia’s World Cup-winning captain said.
“Straight to the top for the order, fantastic in the field, bowled three overs too. To get us to 180 off his bat, it was amazing.”
Stay updated with the latest from IPL 2024, including top contenders for the IPL 2024 Orange Cap and IPL 2024 Purple Cap. Explore the complete IPL 2024 Schedule, IPL 2024 Points Table and players with the Most Sixes, Most Fours and Most Fifties in IPL 2024
When asked about why bowled with the new ball, Cummins said: “Maybe conditions, didn’t think I was going to do that coming into the game. We saw what happened with the new ball for them. Bhuvi and I started off, tried to take a couple of wickets,” he said after the win.
“Beauty is we’ve got plenty of left-armers, right-armers, so you just try and give them the best chance of success,” he added.
(With inputs from Agencies)
Comments
0 comment