Rajasthan Royals registers comprehensive victory against Sunrisers Hyderabad
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
Pune: In their first game, Rajasthan Royals (RR) trumped the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by 61 runs at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on Tuesday.
Batting first, Rajasthan Royals set a mammoth total of 210-6 in 20 overs. 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. RR's Yuzvendra Chahal reduced the Sunrisers to 149-7.
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.
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.
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.
Sanju Samson is the Player of the Match
Sanju Samson, Rajasthan Royals Captain: "I think it was a different wicket than what we thought. The wicket was helping the fast bowlers if you hit the typical Test match lengths. Happy to contribute to the team's victory. Leaders like Sangakkara help me a lot. A lot of cricketing brains have gone in to pick the right side. This season we have come in with great dreams. Lot of good sides and we will take one game at a time."
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.
