IPL 2024: In a season of batting miracles, bowling sends SRH to the final

SRH reached the final of the Indian Premier League by beating RR in Qualifier 2 on Friday, 24 May. It was a very different win by SRH, who struggled to reach a good total with the bat, but managed to put in a gritty display with the ball. Defending just 176, SRH restricted RR to just 139 runs, owing to fantastic performances from Abhishek Sharma and Shahbaz Ahmed.

Both players were drafted into the team for their ability with the bat, and somewhat for their part-time ability with the ball. However, as it turned out, their left-arm orthodox spin, on a sticky pitch at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai turned out to be the game-changer for the Pat Cummins team.

SRH’S MANTRA IN IPL 2024

In the first half of the tournament, SRH were about just one thing – go bonkers with the bat. It did not matter if you batted first or bowled first, SRH wanted to live by the sword and die by it. The team has scored the most runs in the tournament – 2939 to be exact-and has also hit the most sixes in the tournament so far – 175.

Out of the 2939 runs that they have scored, 1033 have come inside the first six overs of the game. The opening pair of Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head have majorly dominated the proceedings with the bat, and the rest of the unit has been a solid support cast.

SRH sounded the warning in the very first match itself, by almost chasing down 209 runs at the Eden Gardens. While the chase did not come off, they did not get deterred. Scoring a massive 277 vs MI at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium did not make them happy, so they decided to hit 287, away from home against Bengaluru. Such has been the might of the team.

Even during a couple of losses midway through the season, SRH head coach Daniel Vettori was bullish, saying that losses did not matter, but they should be able to strike fear into the opposition in the tournament.

PROBLEM IN PLAYOFFS

With the pitches getting tired after a long tournament, SRH were presented with a major challenge in the playoffs. Their approach of live by the sword and die by it, did not work out in Qualifier 1 vs KKR. The team tanked, and they were bowled out for 159 in Ahmedabad. SRH’s bowling failed in that game too, as KKR comfortably chased down the target inside 14 overs of the game.

SRH’s batting fortunes in the second match were similar, with yet another bad stint from their top order. However, this time, the batters showed a little bit of resistance and helped the side to 175/9 in 20 overs.

And that’s when something clicked.

Throughout the IPL 2024, Pat Cummins has bowled himself through the middle overs, choking out the opposition with his ability to hit the deck. However, with such a low score to defend, Cummins was forced to bring himself into the powerplay. The captain did well, removing the dangerous Tom Kohler-Cadmore, who could have taken the match away.

SRH coach Simon Helmot said after the match that the captain recognised that the ball was sticking and he could play the punt of bowling two part-timers in the middle phase. As Rajasthan made the mistake of feeding the right-handers, SRH’s left-arm orthodox spinners picked them off one by one in the middle overs of the game.

8 overs, 47 runs and 5 wickets is what Abhishek and Shahbaz managed on Friday, compared to 0/77 between Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal, two veterans of the Indian Premier League.

When it mattered the most, the spin bowling unit, considered as the weakest link in the SRH line-up came clutch, just like their Australian captain had done throughout the 2023 season in ICC tournaments. In a season of batting miracles from the Hyderabad team, the bowlers stepped up to take SRH into the final of the Indian Premier League.