Hyderabad defeat Kolkata to secure playoff berth

HYDERABAD: The change of franchisee has proved to be a sunrise for the cricket-crazy city. In their very first season, the Sunrisers Hyderabad dished out some memorable performances on way to seal a place in the playoffs of the T20 tournament. Converting the RGIC Stadium into a fortress, the Sunrisers notched up seven victories out of eight matches at home. It paved the way for their entry into the playoffs. After Royal Challengers Bangalore had pulled off a stunning win over the Chennai Super Kings in a rain-hit game on Saturday night, the Sunrisers' fate was in their own hands. The hosts were in no mood to mess up with their destiny as they carved out a five-wicket win over defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders, here on Sunday night. In front of a packed house of over 31,000 fans, the Sunrisers took up the challenge of scoring 131 for a win on a positive note but had to survive some anxious moments before pulling off the win. Opener Parthiv Patel struck left-arm seamer Pradeep Sangwan for two successive boundaries in the second over to set the tone for the chase. The diminutive wicketkeeper-batsman took on the role of the aggressor while Dhawan played the sheet-anchor role. Parthiv struck six fours in his 20-ball 31 as the Sunrisers raced to 45 by the sixth over - offie Yusuf Pathan conceding 15 runs in that over. Thereafter, Dhawan took over and struck some amazing shots - including a jumping cut off Jacques Kallis over point. However, the southpaw fell when attempting a reverse sweep against left-arm spinner Iqbal Abdullah in the 12th over. Dhawan's 35-ball 42 contained three fours and a six. Patel (47; 37b, 7x4) was given leg-before to Abdullah in the following over and then Cameroon White (2) was run out to inject some drama. GH Vihari (6) too didn't last long and the Knight Riders sniffed a chance. Big-hitting Thisara Perera (4) failed to come good too but Darren Sammy (17 n.o., 14b, 2x6) hit Abdullah for two huge sixes to settle the issue. Earlier, Pathan, who has been at the receiving end for his strange dismissal in the previous game against the Pune Warriors India, spared the visitors' blushes by hammering a 29-ball 49 with three fours and an equal number of sixes. Source: TOI