"Thought We Would Lose Or Tie": SRH Star's Honest Admission On Last-Ball Thriller vs RR
The all-rounder also said that the victory is important, following their losses to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
Following his side's one-run win over Rajasthan Royals (RR), Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy said that when he realised that Bhuvneshwar Kumar was defending 13 runs in the final over, he got the confidence that the veteran pacer could pull off a match-winning performance. Vintage Bhuvneshwar was at works at powerplay and death as the veteran ended with three wickets and maintained his nerves to defend 13 runs in the final over, trapping a dangerous Rovman Powell lbw on the final ball to leave RR one-run short of a victory at Hyderabad on Friday.
Following the game, Nitish said during the post-match press conference, "I was looking at who was going to bowl. When I saw that Bhuvneshwar was going to bowl, I got that confidence that he was going to pull it off. During his prime, he had done it so many times. I did not think we were going to win, I thought either we'd lose or tie. But that last-ball wicket, I felt so happy."
Nitish said that his role is to rebuild the innings following quick wickets and take the innings to 13th and 14th over without any further loss of wickets so that Heinrich Klaasen and Abdul Samad can come later and smash from ball one.
"From the last two matches, we are losing quick wickets and I have to go. My role is to carry on till the 13th and 14th over so that Klaasen gets a license to bang. There is no point that Klaasen and Samad are coming early, but not getting to score freely," said Nitish.
Nitish smashed RR spinner Yuzvendra Chahal for two fours and two sixes in the 13th over and said that he backed himself to attack the veteran spinner.
The all-rounder also said that the victory is important, following their losses to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
"Beating RR will boost our confidence, they are at the top of the points table," he concluded.
Coming to the match, SRH opted to bat first after winning the toss. After a slow start, opener Travis Head (58 in 44 balls, with six fours and three sixes) and all-rounder Nitish Reddy injected some momentum into the innings with a 96-run third-wicket partnership. Towards the back end of the innings, Nitish, who made an unbeaten 76* in 42 balls, with three fours and eight sixes, got fine support from Heinrich Klaasen, who overcame a brief slump in form to make an unbeaten 42 in 19 balls, with three fours and three sixes to guide SRH to 201/3 in their 20 overs.
Avesh Khan (2/39) and Sandeep Sharma (1/31) were among the wickets for RR.
In the run-chase, RR lost two quick wickets for just one run. Youngsters Yashasvi Jaiswal (67 in 40 balls, with seven fours and two sixes) and Riyan Parag (77 in 49 balls, with eight fours and four sixes) brought RR into the game with a 133-run third-wicket partnership. Towards the end, Rovman Powell (27 in 15 balls, with three fours and a six) almost won it for his side, but was trapped lbw on the last ball with two runs needed. SRH secured a last-ball one-run win.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar (3/41) was the pick of the bowlers for SRH and got the 'Player of the Match' award. Skipper Pat Cummins and T Natrajan also secured two wickets.
RR is at the top with eight wins and two losses, giving them 16 points. SRH is in the fourth spot, with six wins and four losses, giving them 12 points.
Rajasthan Royals
Sunrisers Hyderabad