Uncapped player Rahul Tripathi took the responsility of scoring runs for Sunrisers Hyderabad on his shoulders before Umran Malik's spell kept the hopes of top four still alive by registering a three-run victory against Mumbai Indians on Tuesday.
Tripathi smashed 76 off 44 balls to guide SRH to 193/6. He was complemented by his fellow teammates Priyam Garg and Nicholas Pooran.
Malik's 3/23 then produced a sensational performance, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled a wicket maiden in the crucial 19th over to stop MI at 190/7 despite the best efforts by the openers Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan. Even Tim David's hitting didn't change the result.
SRH is still in the race on paper as they move up to 12 points. They need to win their last game and hope for other results to go their way.
Chasing 194, Rohit was at his effortless best and looked set for a big score. He gave a solid start to Mumbai's chase alongside Kishan, with whom he shared a 95-run opening stand.
But Kane Williamson's decision to bowl Washington Sundar helped and Rohit was dismissed.
Kishan followed his captain in the next over as Malik took a brilliant wicket.
With 44 needed off 18, the big-hitting David hammered 46 off just 18 balls. He hit four sixes off the 18th over bowled by T Natarajan, including a massive 114m hit.
Bhuvneshwar's 19th over turned the tables to SRH's side.
Earlier, Tripathi, who struck his third half century of the season with the help of nine fours and three sixes, set himself up brilliantly for a memorable knock.
Tripathi and Garg collected 57 in a productive powerplay and maintained a healthy run rate which was close to 10 runs per over while batting responsibly.
Once Garg was caught and bowled by medium pacer Ramandeep Singh, Pooran, who was promoted to No. 3, joined the party.
The MI bowlers, led by Ramndeep, were able to stage a mini comeback as they got rid of Pooran, Tripathi and Aiden Markram in the space of eight balls.
Batting down the order, skipper Kane Williamson's struggles continued as he was unable to get the big shots going.
(Inputs from PTI)
