Yashasvi Jaiswal and Riyan Parag's brilliant half-centuries and a fine cameo by Rovam Powell went in vain as Rajasthan Royals suffered narrow one-run defeat to Sunrisers Hyderabad at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Thursday, May 2.
With a target of 202, Rajasthan Royals were restricted to 201/7 in 20 overs. With two runs off 1 ball required to win, Rovman Powell was trapped with LBW by Bhuvneshwar Kumar's delivery. Powell took the DRS for LBW and the third umpire upheld the decision of the on-field umpire as it was showing reds.
RR lost two early wickets in Jos Buttler (0) and skipper Sanju Samson (0). Yashasvi Jaiswal (67) and Riyan Parag (77) unleashed their firepower as they look on SRH's bowling attack. The young pair formed a 134-run partnership for the third wicket until Jaiswal was dismissed by T Natarajan.
Riyan's stay at the crease ended after he was removed by Pat Cummins at 159/2. Shimron Hetmyer (13) and Dhruv Jurel (1) were dismissed cheaply. Rovman (27) gave his all till the end but RR fell just 2-run short of achieving the target.
For SRH, Bhuvneshwar Kumar picked three wickets while Pat Cummins and T Natarajan took a scalp each.
Mid innings report
The brutal batting by Travis Head, Nitish Reddy and Heinrich Klaseen helped Sunrisers Hyderadab a solid total of 201/3 in the first innings against Rajasthan Royals.
After opting to bat first, openers Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head gave a decent start to their SRH innings until the former was dismissed for 12 at 25/1. Anmolpreet had a short stay at the crease as he was dismissed for 5 at 35/2. Then, Travis Head was joined by Nitish Reddy at the crease and the duo unleashed their firepower.
Head and Nitish Reddy took RR bowlers to the cleaners and formed a 96-run partnership for the third wicket until the former was bowled for 58 by Avesh Khan at 131/3.
Then, Heinrich Klaseen joined Nitish Reddy at the crease and RR bowlers once faced the heat of onslaught as the pair took the visitors' bowling attack to the cleaners. Reddy and Klaseen formed an unbeaten 70-run stand for the fourth wicket. Nitish Reddy remained unbeaten on 76 off 42 balls while Klaseen played quickfire innings of 42 off 19 balls.
Toss Update:
Sunrisers Hyderabad's Pat Cummins won the toss and opted to bat first against Sanju Samson-led Rajasthan Royals in the 50th match of IPL 2024 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Thursday, May 2.
SRH have made a change to their playing XI while RR remained unchanged. Sunrisers Hyderabad have dropped Aiden Markam from the playing XI and brought in Marco Jansen.
Playing XI
SRH: Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Anmolpreet Singh, Heinrich Klaasen(w), Nitish Reddy, Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahmed, Marco Jansen, Pat Cummins(c), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan
RR: We also wanted to bat looking at the conditions. It does suit the team, we have done both well this season. The momentum is the key in this tournament. Lot of things have been working well. To recognise what is working well, we just want to stick with that.
Preview:
Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals will take on each other for the first time in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) season. SRH are returning to action after losing to Chennai Super Kings while RR are on the four-match winning streak.
Pat Cummins-led side are having a good season as they have won five games in nine outings thus far. Sunrisers Hyderabad were on a four-match winning streak before they suffered two consecutive losses in the IPL 2024. SRH are currently at the fifth spot on the points table after nine matches.
Rajasthan Royals, on the other hand, are having a great campaign under the dynamic leadership of Sanju Samson. The IPL 2008 champions have only lost one match in their nine outings and almost booked their spot for the playoffs. RR are currently the table toppers on the points table with 16 points after 9 matches.
