SRH vs PBKS Match 49 Results

6:11 PM IST SRH's head coach - Daniel Vettori says losing the toss meant they had to go against their preferred plan. Admits they were fortunate with a few dropped catches going their way. Dan points out how tough Sakib was to handle at the end and feels there was still enough in the wicket. Adds that the team knows what needs to be done, especially with challenging surfaces coming up in Ahmedabad and Chennai. On Cummins’ captaincy, he praises both him and Ishan for a brilliant season, highlighting that Pat’s biggest strength is his calmness. Mentions that he stays composed, particularly while defending big totals when there’s a lot happening, and that composure filters through the side. On SRH's fielding, he describes the catching as excellent and says it reflects the steady improvement the team has been working towards, coming together at the right time.

6:09 PM IST PLAYER OF THE MATCH - Pat Cummins wins the award. The SRH skipper returned figures of 2/34 in his 4 overs, including 10 dot balls, and also chipped in with a couple of catches in the field. Cummins says that their batters played really well, and beating a really good side in PBKS means a lot. Pat adds that they have been really good at adjusting throughout the course of the game. Reckons that they have played really good cricket at Hyderabad for the last few years, and they feel like the pitch doesn't matter much as they can adjust accordingly anytime. Pat mentions that individually, he is feeling really good and playing really fresh. On the wicket of Arya, Pat says that not much has gone in the favour of the bowlers in the Powerplay, and all he was looking for was to bluff Arya and dart in a short one, and it worked for him. The SRH captain concludes by praising Cooper, saying that it is really good to see the Aussies do well, and he is showing his worth for his franchise.

6:07 PM IST Up next - Match number 50 of the season takes us to Lucknow on Thursday, 7th May. Having lost their last six games, the Lucknow Super Giants will square off against the defending champions, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru. The game will commence at 7.30 pm IST (2 pm GMT). We look forward to having your company then. It's goodbye for now. Cheers!

6:06 PM IST Runs and reprieves - After being inserted to bat, fireworks up top from Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head laid the perfect platform for SRH. Ishan Kishan and Heinrich Klaasen then capitalised on the groundwork laid by the openers, with both riding their luck on the way to half-centuries. Ishan was dropped on 9 and 18, while a stumping chance also went begging when he was on 19. Klaasen, too, was put down early, on 9, as PBKS endured a difficult evening in the field. In contrast, SRH were a lot better in the field and made sure they converted their chances. Nitish Kumar Reddy too chipped in with a handy cameo to help the home side reach 235. Punjab bowled better than the scorecard suggests, and had they held onto those opportunities, it could have been a very different story.

6:01 PM IST A mountain too steep to scale - In chases like these, a team may not necessarily win the game in the Powerplay, but there is every chance of losing it in the first six overs. Losing three wickets in the Powerplay made the task significantly tougher for the tourists. Cooper Connolly fought a lone battle for the Kings, with his maiden IPL hundred proving to be nothing more than a consolation in the end. A couple of expensive overs against the spinners briefly injected some momentum into the innings, but Pat Cummins smartly brought pace back on. The seamers used the cutters effectively on a wicket that slowed down as the game went on, and that aided in making scoring difficult and putting the game beyond Punjab's reach.