Sunrisers Hyderabad’s bowlers were given the runaround by Rajasthan Royals’ batsmen in the 2019 Indian Premier League (IPL) clash between thetwo sides at Hyderabad.
Led by a sensational unbeaten ton by Sanju Samson, 2008 champions Rajasthan racked up a daunting total of 198-2 with India stalwart Bhuvneshwar Kumar taken for 55 runs from his four overs.
Amidst the carnage laid by Rajasthan’s batsmen in Hyderabad, Rashid Khan still managed to stamp his authority with the leg-spinner finishing with excellent figures of 1-24.
Here, we take a closer look at the Sunrisers spinner’s excellent display.
STATISTICS
OVERS: 4
RUNS CONCEDED: 24
WICKETS: 1
ECONOMY-RATE: 6.00
30-SECOND REPORT
Coming to bowl inside the powerplay in a change of tact from skipper Kane Williamson, Rashid wasted no time in answering the call of the Sunrisers’ skipper. The Afghan star struck with just his second delivery by castling the leg stump of Rajasthan’s danger man Jos Buttler.
The Sunrisers leg-spinner remained economical at his end even as Sanju Samson and Ajinkya Rahane upped the ante against the other bowlers, conceding only three boundaries in his entire spell.
That moment when you pick up a key wicket in your second delivery. @rashidkhan_19, you beauty 🤙🤙@rajasthanroyals 22/1 after 4 overs https://t.co/GIRrhyCeZ4 #SRHvRR pic.twitter.com/EqkDYucqjM
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) March 29, 2019
GOT RIGHT
As always, Rashid was bang on the money from ball one. The 20-year-old is usually stump-to-stump and that was the case on Friday with Jos Buttler finding it out the hard way.
The Afghanistan bowler has had the better of Buttler in the past too and he continued to impose his supremacy on one of the most destructive batsmen in the IPL at the moment with the help of his lethal accuracy.
His ability to get the ball to go either way while pitching in line with the stumps gave batsmen no breathing room when they looked to attack him.
While he was excellent with the ball in hand, he was also a livewire on the field with the all-rounder saving some vital runs on the boundary ropes.
Is there a better T20 bowler than @rashidkhan_19, spin or pace?
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) March 29, 2019
GOT WRONG
While he didn’t really do anything wrong with the ball, Rashid could have had two scalps to his name had he shown a little bit more awareness. The leggie struck the pads of Ajinkya Rahane before the ball made its way to wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow’s gloves and immediately launched into an appeal for lbw.
The appeal was turned down and Rashid ultimately decided against taking the review. Replays showed that Rahane had got an inside edge onto the pads before the ball was caught by Bairstow and as such, a huge opportunity went abegging for both Rashid and Hyderabad at a crucial stage.
VERDICT – 8.5/10
While the rest of Sunrisers’ bowlers including the characteristically economical Bhuvneshwar Kumar were taken to the cleaners by Samson and Rahane, Rashid was immune to the onslaught with his clever variations.
The ability to thrive when others struggled shows Rashid’s immense class with the ball in T20s and Hyderabad will count themselves lucky to have his services for three seasons running.
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