The Sunrisers Hyderabad beat the Rajasthan Royals by 36 runs on Friday to set up an IPL final against the Kolkata Knight Riders.
Heinrich Klaasen smashed 50 off 34 balls to help the Sunrisers post 175-9 and their bowlers combined to restrict Rajasthan to 139-7 as they reached their third IPL final, to be played in Chennai on Sunday.
Shahbaz Ahmed came in as an impact substitute in Hyderabad’s batting innings to score 18 runs and then returned figures of 3-23 with his left-arm spin to flatten the opposition chase.
Kolkata, who thrashed Hyderabad in the first playoff game to reach their fourth final, will meet Pat Cummins’ side again in the decider.
It took time to fill the 36,000-capacity MA Chidambaram Stadium, with local fans still missing the presence of home team the Chennai Super Kings.
Chennai veteran MS Dhoni remains a hero in the south Indian city and many fans wore his No 7 jersey during the third playoff contest.
The IPL was in the grip of a heatwave in the last two playoff matches in Ahmedabad where temperatures had soared to over 44°C, but Chennai remained much cooler at 32°C.
Rajasthan faltered in their chase despite Yashasvi Jaiswal’s quickfire 42 before the opener fell to Ahmed and skipper Sanju Samson soon departed for 10.
Ahmed strick twice in one over, including the in-form Riyan Parag for six, and despite Dhruv Jurel’s late charge in his unbeaten 56, inaugural champions Rajasthan fell well short.
Hyderabad’s Abhishek Sharma scored 12 but returned with his part-time spin to take two wickets including the big-hitting Shimron Hetmyer, bowled for four.
Earlier, the Sunrisers, who had racked up record IPL totals of 277 and 287 this season, lacked firepower in their batting until Klaasen boosted the score with his fourth fifty of the season.
WATCH: Klaasen’s hard-fought 50
Rajasthan’s Trent Boult made early inroads when he got Abhishek in the first over and struck twice in the fifth to send back Rahul Tripathi (37) and Aiden Markram (one).
Fast bowler Avesh Khan took two wickets in two balls, prompting Hyderabad, who won the IPL in 2016 under Australia’s David Warner, to bring in Ahmed.
Klaasen stood firm to reach his fifty from 33 balls and put on a key stand of 43 with Ahmed in a total which proved enough.
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© Agence France-Presse
Photo: BCCI
