Sunrisers Hyderabad maintained their fifth spot in the IPL 2024 standings with a narrow victory over Punjab Kings on Tuesday. SRH are level on points with Kolkata Knight Riders, Lucknow Super Giants and Chennai Super Kings thanks to two consecutive wins, but their net run rate (NRR) is the worst compared to the other three teams. On the other hand, Kings XI Punjab are ranked 6th despite losing the game as they have the same number of points as Gujarat Titans but have a better NRR. Rajasthan Royals continue to top the table with 8 points and they are the only unbeaten team in the competition so far.

Young Nitish Reddy showed great character in a crucial 37-ball 64 as Sunrisers Hyderabad got the better of Shashank Singh Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma survived an audacious attack to beat Punjab Kings by two runs.

PBKS dismissed the visitors with a 66 off 20-year-old Reddy in the 10th over to lift SRH to 182/9.

PBKS finished with a record of 180/6 but they would not have gone that far if not for a whirlwind 66-run partnership between Shashank (46 off 25 balls) and Ashutosh (33), the heroes of the previous match. 15 balls out).

Needing 29 runs in the final over bowled by Jaydev Unadkat, SRH conceded 3 catches as Shashank and Ashutosh came within a whisker of another stunning victory.

Born in Visakhapatnam, Reddy started out as an age-group level batsman and developed into an all-rounder with pace bowling, hitting five sixes and four fours during his unbeaten knock. .

Left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh (4/29) was the standout bowler in PBKS but SRH still ended up with a total that looked unlikely at one stage. Abdul Samad scored 25 off 12 balls before Jaydev Unadkat ended SRH’s innings with a six off the last ball.

(with PTI input)