IPL 2022: Match 5, SRH vs RR – Who Said What

Rajasthan Royals (RR) were all over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in match 5 of the 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL) played at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune. The Royals completely dominated their opponents and won the contest by a margin of 61 runs. RR, after comfortably winning the contest, are now sitting at top of the points table.

SRH invited the Royals to bat after winning the toss. The Royals’ openers Jos Butler and Yashasvi Jaiswal thrashed SRH right from the start as they added 58 runs within the field restrictions. Despite Jaiswal getting out right after the powerplay, the Royals did not stop their onslaught. After healthy contributions from Butler (35 off 28 balls), Sanju Samson (55 off 27 balls), Devdutt Padikkal (41 off 29 balls) and Shimron Hetmyer (32 off 13 balls), RR ended up posting a mammoth target of 211 runs.

SRH were reduced to 14/3 during field restrictions

In reply,  SRH registered the lowest powerplay score in the history of IPL, making only 14 runs during the field restrictions.  Despite some lusty blows during the later part of the innings, the chasing side could only manage to make 149/7 in their allotted 20 overs.

Aiden Markram (57 off 41 balls), Romario Shepherd (24 off 18 balls) and Washington Sundar (40 off 14 balls) were some prominent performers for the chasing side. Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal was pick of the bowlers for the Royals, scalping three wickets in his four overs. RR skipper Samson was adjudged Player of the Match for his batting antics.

Losing skipper, Kane Williamson said:

“We started beautifully with the ball, we had our opportunities. In all the games so far, there has been some swing and assistance with the new ball. You want to make some inroads, we looked very likely but unfortunately some fine margins in this game didn’t go our way. It was a very good surface, Rajasthan played outstandingly well. For us, there’s still a number of things to touch on and improve on as a side. You got to keep your chin up and move on to the next one. It (no-balls) is not something common to us, it was a surprise in a lot of ways and we certainly don’t want to do that moving forward. When you take a wicket off a no-ball, it’s never nice. It’s important for us to look at areas where we can improve. (On Umran Malik) Incredibly exciting, he’s got that raw pace, hopefully he continues to evolve as a cricketer. He’s young, got some experience last year which was really valuable and I’m sure he’ll just continue to get better. For us as a side and as a young team, we want to make sure that we stay engaged throughout, be nice and clear on what we’re trying to execute. With the bat, it was tough, the ball moved early on we needed to navigate that as well as we could. Today wasn’t our day.”

Winning skipper and player of the match, Sanju Samson said:

“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. No long time goals. Happy to contribute to team’s victory. I worked on my fitness. I chose the right scoring oppurtunities. Tried to spend time in the wicket. Leaders like Sangakkara help me a lot. A lot of cricketing brains has gone in to pick the right side. This season we have come in with great dreams. Our owners take great care of us. Lot of good sides and we will take one game at a time.”