HYDERABAD, Apr 2:
Rajasthan Royals crushed Sunrisers Hyderabad by a massive 72-run margin in a one-sided match to start their 2023 Indian Premier League campaign on a winning note here on Sunday.
Half-centuries from openers Jos Buttler (54) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (54) and captain Sanju Samson (55) propelled Rajasthan Royals to a huge 203 for 5 batting first, and then Trent Boult (4-1-21-2) and Yuzvendra Chahal (4-0-17-4) ran through SRH’s batting line-up, sharing six wickets between them to seal the game in emphatic style.
Chasing 204, SRH could manage a meagre 131 for 8 in 20 overs as Jason Holder, playing against his former franchise, returned with figures of 3-0-16-1 while Ravichandran Ashwin recorded 4-0-27-1.
Mayank Agarwal’s 27 (23 balls, 3x4s) was the only bright spot for SRH in the top order while debutant Harry Brook, playing his first IPL game, managed 13 (21 balls, 1x4s) before he was cleaned up by Chahal.
Boult rocked SRH twice in the first over, cleaning up Abhishek Sharma (0) in the third ball and a brilliant catch on his left on first slip by Holder saw Rahul Tripathi walking back for a two-ball duck.
SRH never recovered from the poor start as rampant RR kept making inroads.
Brook fell in the seventh over while Holder got rid of Washington Sundar (1) in the ninth.
In the 10th over, while Ashwin had Glenn Phillips (8) caught by KM Asif, Chahal ended Agarwal’s resistance in the next over to seal the game in favour of his side.
SRH’s impact substitute Adbul Samad remained unbeaten on a run-a-ball 32 while RR’s Navdeep Saini bowled two expensive overs for 34 runs, giving away 23 in the final over of the game.
Earlier, last year’s runner-up side RR made a rollicking start, amassing 203 for five, ripping apart the Bhuvneshwar Kumar-led SRH in their own backyard to pile up season’s highest total yet.
In the process, they also became the first team to breach the 200-run mark.
One of the consistent performers in the IPL for RR over the last few years, Buttler made a sensational start stroking his way to a 22-ball 54 with seven fours and three sixes until his assault was ended by SRH debutant Fazalhaq Farooqi. (PTI)
Scoreboard
Rajasthan Royals:
Yashasvi Jaiswal c Agarwal b Farooqi 54
Jos Buttler b Farooqi 54
Sanju Samson c Sharma b Natarajan 55
Devdutt Padikkal b Malik 2
Riyan Parag c Farooqi b Natarajan 7
Shimron Hetmyer not out 22
Ravichandran Ashwin not out 1
Extras: (B-5, LB-1, W-2) 8
Total: (For Five Wickets in 20 overs) 203
Fall of Wickets: 1-85, 2-139, 3-151, 4-170, 5-187
Bowling: Bhuvneshwar Kumar 3-0-36-0, Fazalhaq Farooqi 4-0-41-2, Washington Sundar 3-0-32-0, T Natarajan 3-0-23-2, Adil Rashid 4-0-33-0, Umran Malik 3-0-32-1.
Sunrisers Hyderabad:
Abhishek Sharma b Boult 0
Mayank Agarwal c Buttler b Chahal 27
Rahul Tripathi c Holder b Boult 0
Harry Brook b Chahal 13
Washington Sundar c Hetmyer b Holder 1
Glenn Phillips c Asif b Ashwin 8
Abdul Samad not out 32
Adil Rashid st Samson b Chahal 18
Bhuvneshwar Kumar b Chahal 6
Umran Malik not out 19
Extras: (LB-1, NB-3, W-3) 7
Total: (For Eight Wickets in 20 overs) 131
Fall of Wickets: 1-0, 2-0, 3-34, 4-39, 5-48, 6-52, 7-81, 8-95.
Bowling: Trent Boult 4-1-21-2, KM Asif 3-0-15-0, Jason Holder 3-0-16-1, Ravichandran Ashwin 4-0-27-1, Yuzvendera Chahal 4-0-17-4, Navdeep Saini 2-0-34-0.
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