IPL 2018: Match 4, SRH vs RR: Review Bowlers and Dhawan carve maiden triumph for Sunrisers

Both Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) lost a couple of key players ahead of this season’s Indian Premier League (IPL).  David Warner and Steve Smith were slated to captain their teams, however, fortunes had something else in store for them. However, the sides parked the blows aside and locked horns at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.

The match turned out to be a one-sided affair as Hyderabad defeated the Royals by nine wickets. Not once in the game did Ajinkya Rahane’s men find themselves in the driver’s seat. On the other hand, the Men in Orange were clinical throughout and grasped every half-chance which was presented to them. The pitch had no demons and the game was expected to be a high scoring one.

A flurry of wickets push the Royals back

Kane Williamson, the newly appointed skipper of SRH, won the toss and had no hesitation whatsoever to have a crack at the Rajasthan batsmen. The decision was justified bearing in mind the nature of the batting-friendly wicket in Hyderabad. Ajinkya Rahane and D’Arcy Short, who made his debut in the tournament, commenced proceedings for the Royals.

The start wasn’t auspicious for them as the Sunrisers captain threw down the stumps from mid-off to cut short D’Arcy Short’s knock, Thereafter, Sanju Samson pierced the gaps with expertise which kept the scoreboard moving for the Royals. He wasn’t ambitious in his stroke-play, yet garnered runs at a fair clip. Meanwhile, Ajinkya Rahane wasn’t getting much of the strike, which might have added to his frustration.

The Mumbai cricketer, eventually, succumbed to the pressure and perished to Siddarth Kaul in an attempt to clear the ropes. The next couple of overs saw another batsman- Ben Stokes- perishing in an attempt to up the ante. Stokes has been known to struggle against the leg-spinners which was pretty evident by the technique he employed while facing Rashid Khan in his very first over.

The over might have induced Stokes into playing some extravagant strokes and subsequently, he became Shakib Al Hasan’s first victim. Sanju Samson’ s wicket turned out to be a massive blow for the Royals after which the visitors never recovered and slumped to an under-par score of 125/8. Shakib and Kaul were the most successful of the Sunsrisers’ bowlers with a couple of wickets each.

A stroll in the park for the Sunrisers

The target wasn’t competitive by any means and quite expectantly, the likes of Shikhar Dhawan and Kane Williamson made a mockery of it. Wridhhiman Saha opened the batting along with Dhawan. However, Jaydev Unadkat dished out his trademark slower delivery, which accounted for the Bengal cricketer’s dismissal early in the host’s run-chase.

Following the momentary joy, things went downhill for the visitors as Dhawan and Williamson found the boundaries without dropping much sweat.  After the power-play, Sunrisers raced away to 57 runs, which brought down the run rate by a substantial margin. More than Williamson, Dhawan treated the Royals terms with sheer disdain.

He notched his 29th half-century with a spanking cut stroke off a short delivery, which deserved to punished. The game eventually turned out to be a mere formality as the duo brought the curtains down on the match with a mammoth 25 balls to spare. The victory also lifted them to the top of the league table on the basis of net run rate.

Brief Scores

Rajasthan Royals: 125/9 in 20 overs; (Sanju Samson 49, Shreyas Gopal 18; Siddarth Kaul 2/17, Shakib Al Hasan 2/23)

Sunrisers Hyderabad: 127/1 in 15.5 overs; (Shikhar Dhawan 77*, Kane Williamson 36*; Jaydev Unadkat 1/28, Shreyas Gopal 0/17)

Sunrisers Hyderabad beat Rajasthan Royals by nine wickets  

Player of the Match: Shikhar Dhawan