Bhuvi’s Worst IPL Spell, Hyd’s Record Chase: 5 Stats From SRH v RR
Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Rajasthan Royals by five wickets to register their maiden win in IPL 2019.
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After starting their campaign with a loss against KKR, Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Rajasthan Royals by five wickets on Friday, 29 March to register their maiden win in the ongoing Indian Premier League.
After Rajasthan won the toss and opted to bat, Sanju Samson went on to smash a century and together with captain Ajinkya Rahane stitched a 119-run stand to guide Rajasthan to a total of 198 for two.
The 24-year-old Sanju remained unbeaten on 102 that came off just 55 balls with the help of 10 fours and four sixes.
Interestingly, this was Samson’s second IPL century, and also his second 102 score in the IPL – he had scored the exact same for Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) against Rising Pune Supergiant in the 2017 season.
Samson became the the fourth Indian to score two hundreds in IPL after Virat Kohli (4), Virender Sehwag (2) and Murali Vijay (2).
Bhuvneshwar Kumar's torrid time at the death overs continued. After he was hit for 21 by KKR’s Andre Russell in the 19th over, Bhuvi was taken to the cleaners by Samson on Friday – hit for four boundaries and one six, he gave away 24 runs in the 18th over.
He returned with 0/55 in his four overs – his most expensive spell in the Indian Premier League.
Opener David Warner – whose one-year ball-tampering happened to end on the day of the match – got Sunrisers off to a flyer. He smashed 14 runs in the first over, and got to a half-century off just 26 balls.
Warner along with Jonny Bairstow helped SRH post 69/0 in the first six overs, which is the highest Powerplay score in IPL 2019 so far.
The opening duo stitched a 110-run stand off just 58 balls before getting dismissed in successive overs.
Skipper Kane Williamson (14) and Vijay Shankar (35 off 15) then played aggressively to bring down the equation within reach but two quick wickets, that too in consecutive balls of Shreyas Gopal (3/27) in the 16th over, changed the complexion of the game.
Yusuf Pathan (16 not out) and Rashid Khan (15 not out) however played sensibly to overwhelm the target with ease, as Sunrisers Hyderabad completed their highest run-chase in the IPL.
(With statistical inputs from Arun Gopalakrishnan)