Ashutosh shama

But Nitish Reddy: After a narrow 2-run loss to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), Punjab Kings all-rounder Shashank Singh praised fellow batter Ashutosh Shama for his power-hitting and credited him for keeping the side in the hunt till the last minute of the game.

Chasing a target of 183 against SRH on Tuesday night, Punjab Kings got off to a slow start with the bat, and found themselves needing 67 in four overs. In the middle were the two rising stars Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma, who had already showcased their tenacity and power-hitting in the previous game, leading their side to a dramatic win over the Gujarat Titans last week.

As the home crowd cheered for their Kings on every ball, the hope remained the two youngsters could do it once again for their side. With 29 runs left to chase in the final over, Ashutosh slammed a couple of sixes to put pressure on the opposition. But a good delivery from speedster Jaydev Unadkat ended Kings' hope and despite Shashank's last-ball six, SRH won the game by 2 runs.