Bhuvi eats 3-4 insects as Sunrisers Hyderabad win

Hyderabad: Gujarat Lions suffered their third successive defeat after a stern Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Suresh Raina-led side by five wickets in match 34 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Friday.

Gujarat Lions failed to find their mojo on the day struggling to post only 126-6 after 20 overs with the help of Aaron Finch’s 51 from 42 balls, who anchored innings. In what could have been a cakewalk for the Eagles, SRH made a meal of the run-chase courtesy the Lions pacers, who kept the match tight.

However, opener Shikhar Dhawan’s sensible 40 balls 47 runs knock was enough to see his side through to the finish line chasing down the target with 5 wickets in hand.

For Hyderabad, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mustafizur Rahman grabbed two wickets apiece while Barinder Sran and Moises Henriques took a wicket each. Senior pacer Ashish Nehra (0/23) and Bhuvneshwar bowled a maiden over each as the Lions took 14 balls to score their first run, the most in IPL history.

The match saw some ugly visitors as the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium was full of insects flying all around after a morning rain. Bhuvneshwar, who was adjudged the man of the match confessed that he ate about three to four insects.

“Being a new ball bowler, you take 2-3 early wickets and do the damage. I look to swing the ball and it is not easy to hit the bowlers in T20s. I ate three or four insects. It went down the throat,” Bhuvnehwar said during the post-match presentation ceremony.

“I don't tell anything to Mustafizur. His slower balls are difficult and he is the one taking pressure off me and Nehra in the death overs,” he added.

The winning result propelled the Orange Army to the top half of the points table.

(Photo: Screengrab from the official website of Indian Premier League)