Brief Scores: Rajasthan Royals 210/6 (Sanju Samson 55, Devdutt Padikkal 41; Umran Malik 2-39) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad 149/7 (Aiden Markram 57*, Washington Sundar 40; Yuzvendra Chahal 3-22) by 61 runs.
Rajasthan Royals registered a comprehensive victory in their first game of the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 against the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Tuesday at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune.
A complete batting domination from the Rajasthan Royals powered them to a mammoth total of 210-6 before the RR bowlers, led by Yuzvendra Chahal reduced the Sunrisers to 149-7.
Chasing a lofty target of 211, SRH openers – Kane Williamson and Abhishek Sharma were greeted by some fiery pace bowling from Trent Boult and Prasidh Krishna.
The SRH skipper was the first victim after Williamson was caught by Devdutt Padikkal, who took a juggling catch in the slips, off Krishna’s bowling. The right-arm pacer scalped his second wicket in the form of Rahul Tripathi, who nicked the ball back to the keeper.
In the next over, Boult removed Nicholas Pooran after the left-handed batter was trapped in front.
The Sunrisers were struggling at 14-3 at the end of the powerplay. Aiden Markram joined opener Abhishek Sharma out in the middle, with SRH going through the rebuilding process.
Yuzvendra Chahal was introduced into the attack and the leg-spinner struck immediately after Sharma miscued the lofted shot, which was caught by the long-on fielder.
At the half-way mark, the Sunrisers were 36-4 and things went bad to worse for them as Abdul Samad was caught in the deep by Hetmyer, who took a straightforward catch as Chahal scalped his second wicket of the innings.
Markram was joined by Romario Shephard, who hammered consecutive sixes against Nathan Coulter-Nile in the 14th over.
Shephard’s innings came to an end after the right-handed batter was cleaned up by Chahal, who bowled a full-length delivery to pick his third wicket.
The target seemed out of reach for the Sunrisers. Washington Sundar, who was the next man in, hammered 24 runs off the 17th over bowled by Nathan Coulter Nile. The left-handed all-rounder timed the ball eloquently and hit four fours and a six in the same over.
Sundar added another four and a six to the total in the penultimate over as SRH lowered the margin of the target but the batter was caught in the deep off Boult’s bowling, which brought an end to a quick-fire innings of 40 off just 14 deliveries.
With a four and a six in the final over of the innings, Markram completed his half-century in style, but SRH fell 62 runs short of the mark.
Earlier, the Rajasthan Royals, led by Sanju Samson, were asked to bat first. Jos Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal opened the innings for RR as the game began with a dramatic first over, bowled by Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Buttler edged one straight to the slips but Bhuvneshwar overstepped on the same delivery, giving the right-handed batter an early reprieve.
The no-ball proved to be costly for the Sunrisers as Buttler announced his entrance with his trademark ramp shot. The right-handed opener smacked 21 runs off Umran Malik’s bowling in the fourth over which included three fours and two maximums.
The next over was no different as Washington Sundar conceded 18 runs with Yashasvi Jaiswal joining the party with a maximum.
The Royals were unbeaten at the end of six overs with 58 runs on board but SRH bounced back right after powerplay. Romario Shephard dismissed Jaiswal after the opener was caught in the deep by Markram for 20.
Sanju Samson, the RR captain, joined the dangerous-looking Buttler and struck straight away, clubbing a four and a six each against Abhishek Sharma.
The Royals captain kept the momentum flowing with his clean striking and was joined by left-handed batter Devdutt Padikkal at the other hand, with RR 87-2 at the 10-over mark.
Samson and Padikkal joined hands to score 27 runs in the next two overs with both batters smashing a four and a six each.
Padikkal took over the striking duties as the Royals hammered 17 runs off the fourteenth over by Shephard and the fifty partnership was up for the third wicket.
Pacer Malik ended the explosive partnership with a back of a length delivery that crashed into the stumps to dismiss Padikkal.
Samson reached his fifty after hitting two mammoth sixes against Sundar but the RR skipper was caught in the next over while attempting to clear the ropes against Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Riyan Parag and Shimron Hetmyer, the two new batters at the crease carried on the batting domination for the Royals as Natarajan conceded 18 runs in the 17th over.
Hetmyer smashed consecutive sixes against Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the penultimate over as RR surpassed the 200-run mark. However the left-handed batter was castled by Natarajan’s yorker in the final over and the Royals ended with a huge total of 210/6 in the first innings. (IPL)
