Nitish Kumar Reddy and Travis Head scored fine half centuries as Sunrisers Hyderabad beat Rajasthan Royals by 1 run in a thriller at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Wednesday.
After winning the toss and electing to bat first, Travis Head got a life when Ryan Parag dropped a simple catch at backward point off Trent Boult.
Abhishek Sharma (12) perished while attempting a pull off Avesh Khan to Dhruv Jurel at deep square leg. Sandeep Sharma then got into the act by dismissing Anmolpreet Singh, caught by Yashasvi Jaiswal at midwicket.
Head along with Nitish Kumar featured in a 96 run stand for the third wicket before the former was bowled by Avesh Khan while attempting a scoop for 58.
Heinrich Klaasen (42)* provided a late flourish towards the end to take Sunrisers to 201/3 in their 20 overs.
In response, Bhuvneshwar Kumar pegged RR back by dismissing the Jos Buttler and Sanju Samson for ducks. Jaiswal along with Parag stitched together a valuable 134 run stand for the third wicket before Natarajan broke the stand by dismissing the former for a fine 67.
Pat Cummins then claimed the prize scalp of Riyan Parag (77), caught by Marco Jansen at long on. Shimron Hetmyer and Dhruv Jurel departed cheaply as RR slipped to 182/6.
With 13 needed off the final over, Rovman Powell (27) tried his best but failed to take his team past the finishing line, as they finished at 200/7, thereby falling one run short of the target.
Sunrisers Hyderabad 201 for 3 (Nitish Kumar Reddy 76*, Head 58, Avesh 2-39) beat Rajasthan Royals 200/7 (Parag 77, Jaiswal 67) by one run