IPL 2016: 5 memorable matches for SRH on their road to the final that don't fade away

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So this is it. The IPL is about to end after almost 2 months of non-stop cricket. Time truly flies as it only seems like yesterday that the tournament began.

Even though Gujarat Lions topped the league table, Sunrisers Hyderabad were the best side for many. Their incredible bowling attack was well complemented by David Warner and co. even though one could point fingers at their batting for being over-reliant on their captain.

Still, when one looks for a team that displayed the most teamwork to reach the final, it has to be the Sunrisers.

Be it Mustafizur’s incredible death bowling or Bhuvaneshar Kumar’s consistency at picking wickets, or Barinder Sran’s or Ashish Nehra's underrated support role, or David Warner’s fine form coupled with Shikhar Dhawan’s and Yuvraj Singh’s contribution here and there, almost every member of the team played a role in the journey to the final.

Their journey to the final was littered with some memorable matches that don't fade away, quite like the Axe Signature range of body perfumes. Let's take a look:

#1 Mumbai Indians vs Sunrisers Hyderabad

The first time for everything is the most memorable one. It is no different in the case of the Sunrisers Hyderabad. After losing their first two games, it seemed like they were not playing up to their full potential given that there were some moments of spark from the players.

And it finally arrived, their very first win of the campaign—and it was against defending champions, Mumbai Indians.

Mind you, this was no close game or total decimation by SRH—but their journey towards the final began from here. After extinguishing Mumbai Indians for a mere 142, David Warner led his team to an emphatic 7 wicket win, scoring the bulk of the runs with 90 from 59 balls.

#2 Gujarat Lions vs Sunrises Hyderabad

Shikhar Dhawan’s timely half-century helped Hyderabad cross the line

In the very next game, they continued their winning ways and this time it was a desecration of the team that had won all of their first 3 games: Gujarat Lions. The high-flying Lions were brought to a halt by some exceptional bowling from the Sunrisers.

At first, a Bhuvaneshwar-inspired bowling attack bundled Raina’s men for a meagre total of 135. Only the captain could muster up some runs as Raina scored 75 of just 51 balls.

Given David Warner’s penchant for making great starts, the game was lost in the first 6 overs itself—but this time it wasn’t a lone-warrior display from the Australian as Shikhar Dhawan 53 of 41 became the perfect complement to Warner’s 74 of 48. The Sunrises romped through to a 10-wicket win and in the process ended Gujarat's winning run.

#3 Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Mumbai Indians

Ashish Nehra ripped throught the Mumbai Indians batting line-up

It seems as though Mumbai Indians were the whipping boys, the boxing bag, for the Sunrisers Hyderabad. In both the games that they played against each other, Sunrisers Hyderabad absolutely annihilated Rohit Sharma’s men.

The first game was a brutal display of chasing, while the home leg was an epic depiction of defending a total. This was also the game where we witnessed the ‘sanskaari’ side of Nehra-jee as he did a Namaste gesture to the umpire after picking the wicket of Jos Buttler.

Batting first, Hyderabad set a target of 178 for the Indians to chase. A fine innings of 82 by Shikhar Dhawan assisted them towards the total. In reply, Rohit Sharma and co. imploded for only 92 runs as 3 wickets each from Ashish Nehra and Mustafizur Rahman blew their line-up out of proportion.

#4 Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Kings XI Punjab

David Warner was again the man for the moment for the Sunrisers

One a belter of batting track, it was always going to be an entertaining encounter between the then table-toppers against the struggling Kings XI Punjab. The latter seemed like a rejuvenated side after the appointment of Murali Vijay as captain.

And they started off well. Hashim Amla, drafted in to replace the injured Shaun Marsh, showed his true class as he played a fine knock of 96 off just 56 balls. His innings helped Punjab post a tally of 179 from the 20 overs, which was a good total despite the flat pitch.

Hyderabad’s over-dependence on David Warner meant that Punjab were in with a fine chance if they got rid of him early.

In what was a valiant team effort, every Hyderabad batsman did their jobs as none of the five batsmen that batted scored less than 18 runs. In the end, it was Yuvraj Singh and Ben Cutting that got them over the line with only 2 balls to spare and completed a 7-wicket win.

#5 Qualifier: Gujarat Lions vs Sunrisers Hyderabad

Bhuvneshwar Kumar took wicket both at the beginning and the death to help Hyderabad to the win

After a let-down in the last 2 league games, Sunrisers slipped out of the top 2 and finished at number 3, requiring them to win the 2 eliminator games to reach the final. The first one was an easy win against Kolkata Knight Riders.

The second one against Gujarat Lions, however, was a different story.

The first hiccup came in the form of Mustafizur Rahman’s injury. They were without their best bowler in their most important game of the tournament. However, they fared quite well as they restricted the Lions to 162 runs on board.

Still, chasing at 8 runs an over is no easy task. And it became much harder when everyone apart from David Warner fell like a pack of cards, leaving the captain frustrated.

However, the Australian stood his ground and smacked runs, left, right and centre. He eventually got the support he required from Bipul Sharma as he scored 27 not out in 11 balls to perfectly complement Warner's unbeaten 93. With this 4-wicket win, the Sunrisers qualified for their first ever final.