How SRH made it to IPL 2024 playoffs: Rewinding the highs and lows

The SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) qualified for the playoffs of IPL 2024 after earning a point owing to the washout against the Gujarat Titans on Thursday, May 16.

The SunRisers turned a new leaf by beating the Punjab Kings by six wickets on Sunday, May 19. The pitch at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad was a placid one. It allowed the visitors to amass 214/5 in their allotted 20 overs, but the brute display of power of the hosts left everyone stunned.

On Sunday, the panorama in Uppal was akin to one seen in stadiums in Switzerland, as Hyderabad Cricket Association president Jagan Mohan Rao mentioned, and the Eagles rose to live up to such expectations.

Losing Travis Head off the first ball to Arshdeep Singh was a big blow, but fellow opener Abhishek Sharma, who has flown under the radar for long, continued his fine vein of form to take his team close to the target they were chasing.

Every other SRH batter played cameos before Heinrich Klaasen - their designated bully this season - teed off to take the game beyond PBKS' reach and let Abdul Samad and Sanvir Singh have the cake at the end.

The season has been joyous for the Hyderabad-based franchise that finished last in the table the previous campaign, but it has not been without its lows either. While the highs have seen them soaring beyond the clouds, the lows have been painful for a team that set such high standards.

The early highs - setting the highest total in the IPL, twice

The Eagles lost their first game this campaign by a minuscule four runs to the Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens - whom they will face again in Qualifier 1 in Ahmedabad on Monday - but their intentions were made excruciatingly clear soon.

A hapless Mumbai Indians side, reeling under the change of leadership to Hardik Pandya - whom few took kindly to in this country - were subjected to torture in Uppal when SRH rallied together to put up what was then the highest total in IPL history.

Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, and Heinrich Klaasen all struck timely half-centuries to take SRH to a whopping 277 after batting first. Although MI came close owing to Tilak Varma's 64, the hosts were able to keep their color in the end.

A disappointing defeat to Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad followed this high, but Pat Cummins' boys came back strongly to defeat their arch-rivals and elder brothers (in a manner of speaking since they too are Chennai-owned) CSK in Hyderabad.

The win over CSK gave SRH the momentum they needed to get on a roll and come into their own, which they promptly did in their next three games against Punjab, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, and Delhi Capitals.

The highlight of this run perhaps came at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru when Head teed off from virtually the first ball, struck a blistering century, and helped his side amass another record total - 287.

Surprisingly, RCB gave their visitors a fair chase, and it was only owing to Dinesh Karthik (83) departing towards the end that they could not keep up with the target set for them - they fell short by just 25 runs.

Plans delayed but not aborted after a few mediocre showings

However, sure as night follows day, disappointment was in store for SRH as they tasted two consecutive defeats after such a high - against CSK in Chennai and RCB (of all teams) at home.

A morale-boosting yet rather unconvincing one-run win over the Rajasthan Royals came after this in which their blushes were saved by the loyal Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who has been with the franchise since 2014.

MI got their back on SRH when they beat them by a whopping seven wickets at the Wankhede soon after this, but the latter's hopes for qualification seemed only delayed, and not aborted after this loss.

What made their competitors stand up and take notice, if they hadn't done so already, was their chasing down 166 within ten overs against the Lucknow Super Giants right after this; the ridicule was insulting enough to draw the ire of the latter's owner Sanjiv Goenka on live television.

After this marauding showing, qualification was only a step away, and it was confirmed after the washout against GT already alluded to. PBKS, unfortunately, arrived at the wrong time in Hyderabad and bore the brunt of a team thoroughly enjoying itself in such an elite company.

KKR, whom the Eagles will take on next in neutral territory at the biggest cricket stadium in the world, will have studied them closely, but there is no saying how that match might end up going.