DELHI, India, CMC – Two brief cameos from West Indies captain Darren Sammy were not enough to save Sunrisers Hyderabad from elimination, as they went down by four wickets to Trinidadian Kevon Cooper’s Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League playoffs here yesterday.
Playing at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium, Sunrisers could only muster 132 for seven from their 20 overs, after opting to bat first.
Opener Shikhar Dhawan top scored with 33, Australia’s Craig White got 31 while Sammy weighed in with 29 from 21 balls with three sixes.
Batting at number five, Sammy helped to bolster the Sunrisers innings with two successive 28-run stands, first with Dhawan for the fourth wicket and then with Thisara Perera (14) for the fifth. He was eventually run out in the 18th over.
Royals were then cruising at 50 for one in the seventh over before Sammy nearly turned the contest on its head, finishing with two for 27 from 3.2 overs.
He triggered a slide when he jumped high on the ropes at mid-wicket to sensationally pull down Shane Watson’s pull that seemed destined for six off leg-spinner Karan Sharman.
The right-arm medium pacer then knocked over Dishant Yagnik (0) and Stuart Binny (2) in successive overs, as Royals lost four wickets for seven runs in the space of 20 balls to slump to 57 for five in the tenth.
However, Australian Brad Hodge came to Royals’ rescue with an unbeaten 54 off 29 balls with two fours and five sixes, which took his side to victory in the final over.
Royals and Mumbai Indians, which feature West Indies players Dwayne Smith and Kieron Pollard, meet in the final playoff match tomorrow in Kolkata for a place in Sunday’s final against Dwayne Bravo’s Chennai Super Kings.
