IPL 2018: Match 28, RR vs SRH, Review - Sunrisers top the table courtesy their champion bowlers

What are Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) bowlers made of? They literally defend any total posted by their batsmen who failed to put up a good show once again. But the score was once again enough for the Orange Army as the hosts Rajasthan Royals (RR) lost the game by just 11 runs while chasing the total of 152 runs. Ajinkya Rahane played a brilliant knock but failed to get the impetus in the end. However, the credit has to go to the bowlers of the visitors who were excellent once again on the day and defended a total for the third consecutive match.

The visitors won the toss and opted to bat first with an aim to defend the total once again as they’ve done in the last couple of matches. They included Alex Hales who made his IPL debut in place of Mohammed Nabi as the Royals gave an opportunity to Ish Sodhi and Mahipal Lomror. The duo replaced Heinrich Klaasen and Shreyas Gopal in the line-up.

Williamson fine form continues

Shikhar Dhawan failed once again at the top as he was castled by the impressive Krishnappa Gowtham to bring the in-form Kane Williamson to the middle. SRH would’ve expected a blazing start from Hales but understandable he struggled to get going in his first game. Though he didn’t throw his wicket away as he stitched a key stand with his skipper. The going was slow with the likes of Jaydev Unadkat, Ben Stokes and Gowtham bowling well. But the shackles were broken in the 12th over as Williamson churned out 21 runs.

He decided to play some shots which suddenly threatened the score to go beyond the reach for the Royals. But Gowtham came to the fore once again for them and scalped the dangerous looking Hales in the 14th over. Soon, Williamson followed him with his national teammate Sodhi picking him. The double-wicket blow proved too much for SRH who have struggled this season at the backend of the innings.

Royals pull back at the death

Jofra Archer was excellent once again at the death as he found his searing yorkers perfectly. He sent back the likes of Shakib Al Hasan and Yusuf Pathan who could’ve run away with the game on any day and Jaydev Unadkat scalped the key wicket of Manish Pandey. In the end, they failed to give impetus to their innings and could only muster 151 runs for the loss of 7 wickets after 20 overs. Archer was at his best and he returned with the figures of 3/26 to take his wickets tally to six only after playing a couple of matches.

Samson tees off

Royals had to keep their heads calm to chase down the middling total and who better than Ajinkya Rahane was to open for them as he strode out with Rahul Tripathi. But the latter disappointed yet again at the top to extend his string of low scores and was sent back by Sandeep Sharma. But the incoming Sanju Samson attacked from the word go which caught the visitors off guard. He smacked Basil Thampi out of the park and churned out 17 runs of his opening over.

Meanwhile, Rahane played himself in and just when things were getting too easy for the hosts, Siddarth Kaul struck a meaty blow by picking Samson. The short of a length ball from him just stuck into the pitch which Samson chipped to the mid-wicket fielder. Ben Stokes bagged a duck as the surprising move to hand the ball to Yusuf worked wonders for the Orange Army.

Nervy last 5 overs

The equation had come down to 50 runs off last five overs with the skipper Rahane needing to up the ante now. But Rashid and Kaul bowled a couple of fantastic and denied the duo any boundary which made things nervy in the end. While the leggie bowled his variations beautifully, Kaul was at his best in executing the slower knuckle balls. The latter also took the wicket of Lomror in the penultimate over as all came down to the hero of the last match Gowtham.

Kaul bowled an exceptional over and conceded only 6 runs which left the Royals to get 21 off the last over. Basil Thampi was entrusted with the responsibility as Gowtham was ready to tonk the ball out of the park. Rahane tried hard as well but the youngster was hard to get away as the Royals fell agonisingly short of the target by 11 runs. Thampi kept his cool and delivered for his time as the bowlers clinched yet another victory for the Orange Army. The finishing kick never came for the hosts and Rahane was left stranded in the end.

They climbed to the top of the table trumping Chennai Super Kings (CSK) with 6 wins now as the Royals are left wondering about their chances after losing their fourth game this season.

Brief Scores

Sunrisers Hyderabad 151/7 after 20 overs (K Williamson 63, A Hales 45; J Archer 3/26, K Gowtham 2/18)

Rajasthan Royals 140/6 after 20 overs (A Rahane 65*, S Samson 40; S Kaul 2/23, S Sharma 1/15)

Result: Sunrisers Hyderabad won by 11 runs

Man of the Match: Kane Williamson