Top 4 spells by a SRH bowler in IPL playoffs ft. Rashid Khan

The SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) will take on the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Qualifier 1 of IPL 2024 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on May 21, Tuesday. While KKR emerged first in the table at the end of the league phase, SRH came second. Whoever wins this game will end up qualifying for the final.

The benefit of playing in Qualifier 1 is that whichever team fail to win, they will get another chance in Qualifier 2, in which they will play the winner of the Eliminator.

SRH appear to have a well-balanced side whereas KKR are heavily dependent on their top order.

The Eagles have won the IPL once in 2016 and finished as runner-up in the 2018 edition of the tournament

In this listicle, we will take a look at the top five spells by their bowlers in the playoffs of the IPL. It is to be noted that performances in the two finals they have played so far have not been included in this.

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#1 Rashid Khan's 3/19 in 2018

One of the finest performances for SRH in the playoffs came from Afghan leg-spinner Rashid Khan, who picked up 3/19 in their Qualifier 2 game against the Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens in Kolkata in 2018.

SRH batted first and put up a decent total of 174/7 on the board, thanks to cameos from Wriddhiman Saha, Shikhar Dhawan, and Shakib al Hasan.

Rashid himself struck a 10-ball 34 to help his team finish their innings well and then returned to pick up 3 for 19 in just four overs. His efforts were enough to see his team home, and they were able to win the game by 14 runs.

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#2 Jason Holder's 3/25 in 2020

Former West Indies captain Jason Holder also features on this list, and rightly so. He picked up a brilliant 3/25 against the Delhi Capitals in Qualifier 2 of the 2020 IPL season which was held in the United Arab Emirates.

However, his efforts were not enough to see his team through, and they ended up going out at this stage, finishing in the third position.

DC won the toss and batted first in this game at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi and put up a respectable 189/3 on the board despite Holder's heroics with the ball.

In response, SRH fell short by 17 runs although Kane Williamson scored a 45-ball 67 and Abdul Samad stroked a 16-ball 33.

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#3 Ben Cutting's 2/20 in 2016

Former Australia all-rounder Ben Cutting finds himself on this list due to the 2/20 he picked up against the Gujarat Lions in Qualifier 2 of IPL 2016. His spell helped his team win and go to the final, in which they eventually beat the Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

In the game against GL, SRH invited their opponents to bat first and restricted them to a chaseable total of 162/7 at the end of 20 overs.

Aaron Finch, who had earlier played for SRH in the IPL, scored a half-century to help GL get to this total.

Medium pacer Cutting was the most successful bowler for SRH with his 2/20 in three overs. In reply, David Warner's unbeaten 93 was enough to take the Eagles through to the final.

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#4 Rashid Khan's 2/11 in 2018

Rashid finds himself on the list for the second time owing to the 2/11 he picked up against CSK in Qualifier 1 of the 2018 season of the IPL.

SRH batted first in this game as well but could only score 139/7 at the end of 20 overs. In reply, CSK did not have the easiest of times battling against Rashid and ended up chasing the runs down only in the last over of the game.

The Afghan spinner returned with figures of 2/11 in his quota of four overs at a significant economy of just 2.75.