Avesh Khan the pacer for Rajasthan Royals once again showcased why his talent for snatching wickets in the middle overs is indispensable. He seized the significant scalps of Nitish Kumar Reddy and Abdul Samad in successive deliveries during their IPL 2024 Qualifier 2 battle against the SunRisers Hyderabad on Friday May 24.
Avesh Khan had bowled the wide line outside off-stump, and Reddy attempted the reverse sweep over Yuzvendra Chahal at third man. However, Chahal timed his jump perfectly and caught his third catch of the evening.
Abdul Samad then stepped out to bat, and the plan was to form a partnership with Heinrich Klaasen. However, Avesh Khan bowled a fantastic delivery first up, nipping back off the seam and knocking the off pole out.
Samad was removed for a duck, while Reddy scored five runs off ten balls.
Here’s footage of both dismissals:
Avesh Khan bowled his second over just as Reddy and Klaasen were looking to boost the ante. However, his two wickets prompted SRH to utilize all-rounder Shahbaz Ahmad as an impact substitution rather than reserving it for another bowling option.
RR make a sensational comeback to restrict SRH to 175/9
It was evident that taking wickets at regular intervals would be the only way for RR to keep the explosive SRH batting line-up under control. That’s exactly what happened, as they restricted the Sunrisers to 175/9 in 20 overs. It appeared to be a difficult chore when the batters were going full bore at one point.
Despite Abhishek Sharma’s early wicket, Rahul Tripathi’s 37-run cameo ensured SRH maintained momentum. Trent Boult, on the other hand, returned both Rahul Tripathi and Aiden Markram during the powerplay, causing the first significant dent in that batting lineup.
Since then, SRH has lost wickets at regular intervals. Boult finished with 3/45, while Avesh took three (3/27) and Sandeep Sharma added two (2/25). To advance to the final, SRH will need to defend 176 against RR.