Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium under floodlights during the IPL 2023 cricket match between Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad at Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad on April 2, 2023. Photo Credit: PTI
Rajasthan Royals started their Indian Premier League 2023 campaign with a win on Sunday, defeating Sunrisers Hyderabad by a huge margin of 72 runs in a one-sided match.
Openers Jos Buttler (54) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (54) and half-centuries from captain Sanju Samson (55), Rajasthan Royals scored 203 for 5 batting first and then Trent Boult (4-1-21-2) and Yuzvendra Chahal (4-0-17-4) ran through SRH’s batting line-up, sharing six wickets between them to seal the game in emphatic style.
Chasing 204, SRH could only manage 131 for 8 in 20 overs as Jason Holder returned with figures of 3-0-16-1, playing against his former franchise, while Ravichandran Ashwin Recorded 4-0-27-1.
Mayank Agarwal’s 27 (23 balls, 3×4) was the only bright spot for SRH in the top-order, while debutant Harry Brook, playing his first IPL game, managed 13 (21 balls, 1×4). Before he was clean bowled by Chahal.
Boult rocked SRH twice in the first over, clean-bowling Abhishek Sharma (0) in the third ball and a superb catch by Holder at first slip to his left saw Rahul Tripathi walk back for a two-ball duck.
SRH never recovered from the poor start as RR made inroads in a big way.
Brook fell in the seventh over while Holder dismissed Washington Sundar (1) in the ninth over.
In the 10th over, while Ashwin had Glenn Phillips (8) caught by KM Asif, Chahal broke Agarwal’s resistance in the next over and took the game in his favour.
SRH’s impact substitute Adbul Samad remained unbeaten on 32, while RR’s Navdeep Saini bowled two costly overs for 34, conceding 23 runs in the final over of the game.
Earlier, last year’s runners-up RR got off to a flying start by posting their highest total of the season so far, posting 203 for five at home against Bhuvneshwar Kumar-led SRH.
In the process, they also became the first team to cross the 200-run mark.
One of the consistent performers in the IPL for RR over the years, Buttler scored a sensational 22-ball 54 with seven fours and three sixes until his onslaught was decimated by SRH debutant Fazalhaq Farooqui. Done.
Buttler started off with a six off Bhuvneshwar in the third over and got off to a perfect start for the Royals by hitting T. Natarajan for four boundaries in the fifth over when SRH stand-in skipper Bhuvneshwar opted to bowl.
Buttler hit three more fours in the next over off Afghanistan’s Farooqui, before the left-hander clean-bowled him to end the opening stand on 85, which came off just 35 balls.
RR’s 85 for one overall was the sixth highest score for any team in the powerplay, while it was also their highest score in the first six overs in IPL history.
However, the dismissal had no effect on RR’s charge as their skipper Samson combined with Jaiswal to put on 54 runs for the second wicket, helping the team cross the 100-run mark in the eighth over.
RR, however, lost some steam with the regular fall of wickets and it took the final ball of the innings for them to get past the 200-mark.
If Buttler was ruthless at one end, Jaiswal has easily successfully turned around his domestic circuit form to make a strong start to IPL 2023.
The left-handed batsman brought up his fourth half-century overall in the competition, scoring 54 off 37 balls with nine hits to the fence.
Farooqui picked up the second wicket for SRH in the 13th over, with Abhishek Sharma taking a brilliant catch to dismiss Jaiswal.
Overall, RR enjoyed a successful 55 off 31 balls (3x4s, 4x6s) with skipper Samson batting.
If RR’s top three made merry with the bat, young Devdutt Padikkal (2) had no answer to Umran Malik’s 149.2 kmph first ball of the 15th over – which sent his off-stump flying .
Riyan Parag (7) was dismissed early while Shimron Hetmyer (22 not out from 16 balls, 1x4s, 1x6s) took them past 200.
With four of his six bowlers conceding more than 10 runs in an over, SRH’s stand-in skipper Bhuvneshwar (3-0-36-0) for the game certainly reconsidered his decision to bowl first Will happen.
Natarajan ended with 3-0-23-2 while Farooqui took 2/41 from his four overs.
England’s Adil Rashid was wicketless but bowled controlled spells of 4-0-33-0.