Hyderabad: Defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad needed 13 off last over to keep their winning record intact at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal. But Rising Pune Supergiant, who have been on surge, bowler Jaydev Unadkat had something else in the mind.
The left-arm medium pacer not only bowled a maiden over but also claimed a hat-trick to hand Pune 12-run victory and also lift them to number 2 in IPL points table. The win also almost booked their place in the play-offs.
Unadkat returned with figures of 5/30 from his four overs, including the hat-trick in the final over, which saw the dismissals of Bipul Sharma, Rashid Khan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. The left-armer also accounted for the wickets of the in-form Yuvraj Singh and stumper Naman Ojha to get to his five wicket haul.
The left-armer was complimented well by Ben Stokes, who first helped Pune reach 148/8 with a 25-ball 39, before taking three wickets to dent the hopes of the hosts.
Stokes struck with the wickets of the in-form Shikhar Dhawan (19) off his first delivery before packing New Zealander Kane Williamson (4) one ball later as the Sunrisers lost their first match on home soil this season.
Skipper David Warner (40 from 34 balls) did well to get to 500 runs in this edition of the IPL, striking four fours, including three off tweaker Washington Sundar besides clobbering Imran Tahir for a massive six.
The Australian added 54 runs for the third wicket with Yuvraj (47 from 43) before Stokes returned to see Warner’s back with a short ball to be caught by Shardul Thakur at sweeper cover.
Tahir then jolted the hosts with the wicket of Moises Henriques (4) with a googly, which the batsman tried to cut but instead crashed onto the stumps.
With the asking rate mounting, Yuvraj, who got a life on 32 belted a few boundaries and sixes to step up the gas and add 21 runs with Ojha (9), before slicing a short and wide ball from Unadkat only to land in Rahul Tripathi’s hands.
