Sunrisers Hyderabad opened their account in the 2019 Indian Premier League (IPL) in style with Kane Williamson’s men brushing aside Rajasthan Royals‘ challenge by five wickets.
David Warner and Rashid Khan were at the heart of Sunrisers’ impressive victory with last season’s runners-up chasing down a stiff target of 199 runs with an over to spare in the end.
WARNER TURNS ON THE MAGIC ONCE AGAIN
After Rajasthan has posted a challenging 198-8 in their 20 overs, Sunrisers openers Warner and Jonny Bairstow came out all guns blazing with the powerplay overs fetching a whopping 69 runs.
It was Warner who was the primary aggressor with the Australia opener notching up his second straight fifty in the IPL in sublime fashion. The left-hander took just 26 deliveries to bring up his 38th IPL fifty with his partnership with Bairstow bringing Hyderabad 110 runs inside 10 overs.
Striking two sixes and nine boundaries enroute to a 37-ball 69, Warner was in scorching form at Hyderabad. However, both he and Bairstow fell quickly in succession to give Rajasthan a glimmer of hope.
I normally don’t like to talk about individuals in cricket. But seeing his skills I am glad to note that Sanju Samson is currently the best Wicketkeeper batsman in India. For me he should be batting number 4 in the World Cup @BCCI @rajasthanroyals @IPL @StarSportsIndia
— Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) March 29, 2019
Rajasthan’s respite would be short-lived with Vijay Shankar in belligerent mood. Shankar struck three sixes in an entertaining 35-run (15) cameo which brought down the required equation down to run-a-ball.
However, Shreyas Gopal introduced another late twist by sending back Shankar and Manish Pandey off consecutive deliveries. Thankfully for the hosts, Rashid Khan backed up his excellent bowling display (1-24) with some important boundaries to seal victory for Hyderabad off the penultimate over.
Earlier, Rajasthan Royals struggled at the start of their innings after skipper Ajinkya Rahane elected to bat first. After three tight overs, the pressure told on Jos Buttler who was castled by Rashid Khan with just his very second delivery.
With Buttler falling early, Rajasthan were kept quite in the powerplay with the first six overs yielding just 35 runs. However, just six overs later, the Royals were bringing up their team 100 with Rahane and Samson turning on the heat.
SAMSON CHANGES GEAR TO BRING UP SENSATIONAL TON
The pair were in immaculate touch out in the middle and brought up a century stand between themselves in no time to reignite Rajasthan’s innings. Rahane fell after a 49-ball 70 but Samson stepped up another gear after bringing up his half-century with the Kerala-born batsman going on an extraordinary charge.
Samson smashed off Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s penultimate over with runs starting to flow in the death overs. The right-hander brought up his second IPL ton off the last over off the innings, taking only 54 deliveries to get to the mark.
This is the eighth 100+ opening stand for SRH in IPL - David Warner involved in all of them!#SRHvRR
— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) March 29, 2019
76 runs came off the final five overs for Rajasthan amidst Samson’s carnage with the side nearly breaching the 200-run mark.
BRIEF SCORES
Rajasthan Royals: 198-2
Sanju Samson: 102 not out (55)
Ajinkya Rahane: 70
Rashid Khan: 1-24
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 201-5
David Warner: 69 (37)
Jonny Bairstow: 45 (28)
