RR vs SRH Highlights: Samad smashes a six after no-ball to seal four wicket win for Hyderabad

• 224 - RR vs PBKS, Sharjah, 2020
• 219 - MI vs CSK, Delhi, 2021
• 215 - MI vs PBKS, Mohali, 2023
• 215 - RR vs DC, Hyderabad, 2008
• 215 - SRH vs RR, Jaipur, today

Sandeep Sharma will bowl the last one. From around the wicket, pitrches it wide to Samad, who slashes it not so cleanly but Obed McCoy is unable to take the catch at short third. The next one is full and connected cleanly for a six over long on as the fielder stationed at boundary is unable to take the catch. Seven needed off the last three balls. Wide and full and Samad is only able to get a single. Jansen is only able to work it for a single off the penultimate. Five needed off the last ball. Are we getting a first super over of the season? Sandeep Sharma comes sprinting in and Samad connects the wide ball but it only goes as far as long off.....but hang on IT'S A NO BALL. A big overstep from Sharma there. The batters haven't crossed. Four needed off the last one now. Samad on strike again. Here we go....Samad slaps it down the ground and it's gone all the way. SRH WIN!

Glenn Phillips has arrived at the IPL, and how! In and out, mostly out, over the past few years in the league and now the Kiwi has taken the attack to Kuldip Yadav in the penultimate over. Six, six, six, four. The pressure was entirely on the bowler but Yadav pitches in a slower one and Phillips has only been able to connect it to Shimron Hetmyer. 198/6 with the last over to go.

A third wicket for Yuzvendra Chahal!

Tossed up, in the slot, Tripathi goes for the audacious slog sweep but is only able to find the fielder at deep mid wicket. Jaiswal completes the grab. 

Aiden Markram goes for the reverse sweep but completely misses the line of the ball is trapped lbw. That's a 4fer for Chahal! Brilliant over that, three runs and a couple of wickets in it. 174/5 after 18 overs.

Obed McCoy had come on for Ravichandran Ashwin to add depth to Rajasthan's death bowling options. His first over hasn't exactly been on the mark. Tripathi pulls him over deep square leg with supreme finesse for a six. Markram gets lucky with a lob over short fine for four. 13 come off the over. 171/3 after 17 overs.

It's Chahal time. The gutsy delivery from the leggie, tossed up is dealt with a towering six over deep mid wicket. Bowls another tossed up ball up next but Klaasen is unable to connect. A wide length ball is cut and just about manages to beat the fielder at point for four. But then, the expected delivery does the trick again. Tossed up, wide and Klaasen can only find the fielder at long off. 158/3. 

Kuldip Yadav had made a brilliant comeback following 'that' Murugan Ashwin over. Six runs had come off his first five but Klaasen manages to smoke a length ball down long off to finish the over on a high. 146/2 after 15 overs. 69 required off the last 30 balls.

That first ball from Murugan Ashwin - a full toss - sent back over deep mid wicket by Heinrich Klaasen made Anil Kumble go on-air, "This is the big over." An over ago, he'd suggested the leggie's name as the potential bowler SRH would target and that is exactly what they've done. Rahul Tripathi gets served another, and the result is the same. A loopy delivery on the off is lofted over the fielder at point for four. 19 off the over. 136/2 after 14.

Pitched fullish and straight and Abhishek Sharma kneels down to slog sweep a one-handed six over deep mid wicket. Took away his top hand at the final second and yet managed to get it over the ropes for one of the longest maximums of the evening. Fifty for the southpaw. The next ball is darted in on the middle stump, a length delivery, and Abhishek top edges this straight to Chahal at short third. 117/2 after 13. 

A run out opportunity missed off the first ball at the striker's end. Abhishek Sharma wasn't even in the frame but Sanju Samson hasn't managed to grab the ball as he dislodges the bails. Abhishek Sharma picks up a half tracker from Murugan and slogs it over deep mid wicket for six. Despite that, only nine runs come from the over. 107/1 after 12.

Ravichandran Ashwin into his third over. Fires his first one into Tripathi's pads and the latter squeezes it in the deep square leg path and runs three. Flat and wide later in the over and Tripathi cuts it clean for four. 11 off the 11th. 98/1, Hyderabad. 

A third spinner, another leggie into the attack for Rajasthan. Murugan Ashwin. Pitched up and Rahul Tripathi clamps him over long on for six. A length ball drifting down leg is helped down backward square leg for four from Abhishek Sharma. 14 runs come off the 10th over, Hyderabad are 87/1 at the halfway stage.

Kuldip Yadav returns for a second over. Hyderabad have derailed following a good start in the powerplay. Anmolpreet Singh was the chief destructor with the bat and his dismissal is clearly visible on the run rate. Just eight off the ninth over. 73/1. 142 required off the last 66 balls.

On Chahal getting the drop on the ball, former leggie Anil Kumble elucidates, 'The amount of revs (revolutions) you get on the ball will determine the amount of drop you're getting. Normal leg spinner will look to spin with the ring finger, if you can rotate the ball with that. When you do that, it drops on the batter. He feels it's full but it drops on the batter as it reaches to him.' That loopy delivery from the leggie which goes slow and forces the batter to go for slog has been a recipe for most of Chahal's wickets in white-ball cricket since he arrived on stage. Chahal also brings his wrists into play for the turn. His latest over costs seven runs, a boundary swept square off the last ball. 65/1 after eight overs.

Ravichandran Ashwin replaces Sandeep Sharma from the other end. The offie has found the turn on the surface early in this innings. Rahul Tripathi is the new man in and Hyderabad collect six from that over. 58/1 after seven.

Yuzvendra Chahal with the ball for the last over of the powerplay. Pitches too full to Anmolpreet Singh and gets punished for four down long on. Bags his man later in the over with the typical Chahal delivery, fullish and inviting the batter to go for slog. Hetmyer takes the catch. Fifty up for Hyderabad but they've lost the first wicket. 52/1 at the end of the sixth over.

A fine over that for Hyderabad and this has been a positive start for the visitors. Three boundaries collected off that Sandeep Sharma over. 15 runs come off it, 45/0 after five. One over left before field restrictions are lifted. 

Even though Abhishek Sharma has been SRH's most successful opener this season, it is Anmolpreet Singh who's looked in top gear early in the over. Ashwin into his first over is cut away for four through the cover-point region. 30/0 after four overs.

Sandeep Sharma pitches the ball in Abhishek's arch and the southpaw advances down the ground to smother the back of a length delivery, flat batted, for four. Anmolpreet Singh backs away on the last ball of the over to flick another boundary, this time a four. 22/0 after three.

Kuldip Yadav from the other end. Anmolpreet Singh flicks him over square on the on side by planting his front foot outside the crease. Shimron Hetmyer jumps and gets his fingertips onto it but it goes beyond the rope. 12/0 after two overs.

Welcome back to the chase as Anmolpreet and Abhishek open for Hyderabad. Sandeep Sharma will be starting the attack for Rajasthan. Starts with two dots as both times Anmolpreet finds a fielder. Good first over that, just the three singles negotiated. 3/0, Hyderabad.

Tushar Bhaduri: Joe Root made his IPL debut against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Rajasthan Royals including the England stalwart in the XI to lend some stability to the batting after the debacle against Gujarat Titans. Hence, it was ironical that the top order chose this game to rediscover its form. Jaiswal gave the team the required momentum at the start, Jos Buttler took his time before unleashing himself, and Sanju Samson, for once, didn't throw it away after getting in. All this while, Root's chances of getting a maiden hit in the IPL kept diminishing with the likes of Shimron Hetmyer and Dhruv Jurel at their disposal. Whatever be his varied strengths, Root is not known to tee off from the word go, a reason perhaps for it taking this long for one of the franchises to pick him. He had to be content watching his compatriot Buttler and skipper Samson take the team towards a 200-plus total.

A brilliant reach from Marcos Jansen to avoid a boundary at wide long on off the first ball. Samson makes room on the off side to scoop the fuller ball down fine leg for four. Brings 200 up for Rajasthan. Brilliant from Natarajan to take the pace poff the ball for the next two balls, only singles negotiated. The next one is picked clean from Samson for a biggie over long on. Squeezes one behind to beat short third for four. 214/2 is where Rajasthan finish.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar from over the wicket deliveries a peach of a yorker, thumping into Buttler's front toe and this is plumb. The umpire doesn't raise his finger but Bhuvneshwar Kumar goes for a review straightaway. Buttler has to walk back five runs shy of his hundred. 196/2, Rajasthan with one over to go.

Natarajan from the other end. This is his territory. Death overs. Keeps it under a run a ball in his third over. Five come off it, Buttler is a maximum away from his sixth IPL hundred, will be the joint-highest in the league's history alongwith Chris Gayle. Meanwhile fifty up for Sanju Samson off 33 deliveries. 190/1 after 18.

What an innings this has been from Jos Buttler!

Bhuvneshwar Kumar is back with the ball. Low full toss in attempt of an yorker is cover driven for four. A square drive follows for the same result before another smash for a third four off the over. 17 off the over. 185/1 after 17 overs.

Mayank Markande has had a torrid day out with the ball. 51 runs come off his full quota tonight. Off his last over, Buttler muscles a slot ball straight down the ground and into the sightscreen. Samson takes a cue and advances down the ground later in the over to hit another six into the sightscreen. 14 come off that over. 168/1 after 16 overs.

Marco Jansen has barely troubled Jos Buttler this evening. Fullish delivery outside off stump smashed past cover for four. Back of a length delivery is guided down third man for four. 100 run partnership up between these two.154/1 after 15 overs.

Mayank Markande had leaked 21 runs in his last over. He's returned back brilliantly, just the single off his first five deliveries before Sanju Samson finds a maximum off a mistimed pull off back foot over deep mid wicket for six. Glenn Phillips almost got his hands to that one. Despite the six, only seven runs come off the over. 142/1 after 14.

Vivrant Sharma into his second. Goes marginally short and such is the flow of Buttler on the eve that he rocks back and belts it over wide long on. 10 runs come off the over. 135/1 after 13 overs and Rajasthan are nicely set for a big finish.

Seems like a long time but Jos Buttler wasn't out of shape for that long. With his team needing a win, the England international has stepped on the gas following Jaiswal's dismissal. Jansen round the wicket and Buttler helps it down fine leg for four. 125/1 after 12 overs.

Tushar Bhaduri: Yashasvi Jaiswal would be kicking himself. For a batsman smashing all types of bowling out of the park, getting out trying to be too cute must be jarring. After hitting five fours and a couple of sixes in only 17 balls, the left-hander tried to glide a Marco Jansen delivery that kicked up a bit too much outside off-stump. The resultant shot looped up to T Natarajan at short third man, as Jaiswal stood there is disbelief for a few moments, wondering why he didn't swing the bat harder at that delivery. As long as he was in the middle, Jaiswal took care of most of the scoring, allowing Jos Buttler to settle in after a few lacklustre games. After the left-hander's departure, it became a contest of sorts between Buttler and skipper Sanju Samson in the boundary-hitting stakes.  Whoever won that, Sunrisers Hyderabad were at the receiving end.

Vivrant Sharma, the debutant for SRH, into his first over. The left arm orthodox has got the pace in his arsenal and keeps the RR batters at bay for the first five deliveries off his over. The last one is a full toss and that is where Jos Buttler is not going to miss his mark. Eight off the over. 115/1 after 11.

Former English spinner Graeme Swann believes Rajasthan's top run scorer from 2022 is back at his best. He exclaims the same as Buttler pulls Abhishek Sharma from deep in his crease for six before hammering one down the ground for four. 100 up for Rajasthan. 107/1 at the halfway stage.

Speaking of a change of pace, Sanju Samson and Jos Buttler have taken off following that break. The RR skipper takes on Markande for back to back sixes to kickstart the 9th over. Too full on both occasions and Samson unleashes his wrath down the ground and over wide mid off. Against Buttler, it ain't that short but the Englishman disposes it anyway over the deep mid wicket for six. 21 off the over. 95/1 after nine.

Left arm spin, Abhishek Sharma comes on from the other end. Fine start for the SRH opener with the ball. Just the four runs off his first over. 74/1 after eight overs. Strategic timeout signalled by the umpire.

Spin is introduced by Aiden Markram straightaway after the powerplay. Mayank Markande with the ball. Samson and Buttler have looked contrastingly cautious as opposed to the outing from Jaiswal and rightly so after that start. In the last game, an all-out attacking strategy didn't help the hosts. The odd ball is costing Hyderabad a boundary an over. Short and outside off from Mayank Markande and Sanju Samson has all the time to crunch it through backward point. 70/1 after seven.

He went after everyone, went all over the ground. That (dismissal) was bit of an anti-climax," said Scott Styris on Yashasvi Jaiswal's 18-ball-35. There's a tangible lull in the air around Sawai Mansingh Stadium after the dismissal of Rajasthan's top scorer this season. Sanju Samson is the new man in. Natarajan in for his second over keeps him at bay until the RR skipper picks a back of a length off cutter with the full face of the bat to guide it down third man for four. 61/1 after six overs and that's the end of the powerplay.

Marco Jansen into his second over. Short and Jaiswal top edges it down third man for four. Fifty up for Rajasthan. Next one is length and outside off, neatly whipped behind square on the off for a second boundary. The southpaw is left dejected following a disappointing end to his knock. Jansen rolled his fingers and it's a back of a length delivery, Jaiswal tries to nudge it behind but hands it straight to short third man. Rajasthan, 54/1.

Fortune favors the brave. See for yourselves. Yashasvi Jaiswal goes after a slower knuckle ball floated outside off and bottom edges it.The ball whiskers past the stumps and beats the keeper on its way to a four down fine leg. Off the next one, he cleanly picks another slower one to sail it over long on for a second maximum this evening. 45/0 after four.

Natarajan replaces Bhuvneshwar Kumar. The left armer was praised out loud by head coach Brian Lara for his death over antics against Delhi Capitals in his side's last win. No doubt why Hyderabad have rated him so highly in a sport where the final overs can change the complexion of a game by a million miles. Tonight, he starts off well with just the three runs off his first four deliveries before Jos Buttler goes between cover and mid off to get a full-ish delivery down the ground for four. A single to finish the over. 34/0 after three overs.

Back to back boundaries for Jos Buttler. He'd need them. The England international, who'd produced the second best season for any batter in IPL history, has found himself away from runs of late. Picks Marco Jansen for consecutive boundaries before Yashasvi Jaiswal wraps the over with a stunning pull over deep mid wicket. 26/0 after two.

What a start this! Bhuvi pitches it up and Jaiswal comes down to hoist the ball over, just over the fielder at mid on. A four to get off the mark. 

SRH debutant Vivrant Sharma is unable to pick the trajectory of a flick from the southpaw later in the over to deep backward square leg and the ball bounces in front of him to go behind for a second boundary in the over. 9/0 after the first over.

Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler take guard in the middle. The former has been Rajasthan's numero uno in every sense of the word this season. Up against him, with the new ball, Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Should be a fun contest. Off we go!

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Harry Brook, Anmolpreet Singh, Mayank Dagar, Nitish Reddy, Sanvir Singh

Rajasthan Royals: Devdutt Padikkal, Adam Zampa, Riyan Parag, Jason Holder, Obed McCoy

SRH: Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram(c), Heinrich Klaasen(w), Glenn Phillips, Abdul Samad, Marco Jansen, Vivrant Sharma, Mayank Markande, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan

RR: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson(w/c), Joe Root, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer, Ravichandran Ashwin, Murugan Ashwin, Sandeep Sharma, Kuldip Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal

Joe Root: I’m very passionate about playing for England clearly. It was a dream to just play one Test match, let alone so many. Looking forward to what’s to come later on in the year. But got my hands full now and I’m enjoying what’s happening here right now. The last few weeks for me have been really good to just be around T20 cricket. Been a long time since I’ve had a block of time to concentrate only on T20. To get the opportunity to be here, learn from the coaches and see some young guys come through has been beneficial for me as a player. I’m in this format just to try and look at the game slightly differently, and that’s always what you want to do when you’re new somewhere - just be a sponge and soak as much as possible. I may not be playing but I feel like I have had a huge amount of learning in the last few weeks. If I get an opportunity, I’ll try to do my best for the side. I think we (RR) need to play to our abilities, there is so much experience and exciting talent within the group, and it is just about putting on a show and expressing ourselves. Hopefully, we can play with confidence and freedom, and entertain the crowds.

Sanju Samson: Decided to bat first. Conditions also demand the same. Climate has been different. Not much dew in the later half. And sometimes it suits us also. We would've wanted to play better standard of cricket. We've had hard and honest chats. Would like to come back stronger. Few injury issues in the team. 

Aiden Markram: Would've also batted first. It's a used wicket. There's been some close ones. Most of the time we've played decent cricket but not been able to get over the line. Couple of changes - Glenn Phillips comes in for Harry Brook.

Joe Root makes his debut for Rajasthan.

Sanju Samson wins the toss, Rajasthan to bat first in Jaipur.

"68 meters to my left, 63 to my right, and 78 meters down the ground. Home team were dismantled by spin in the last game. This is the same pitch, but we shouldn't be fooled by what happened in that game. There was nothing wrong with the pitch, it was a good pitch. But looking at it now. The colour of the grass has changed a little bit, and it's a little bit drier. It looks very similar, the only difference is the grass colouring a little bit, and the cracks are a little bit wider. So what impact might that have? I don't think too much. I said 180 was a good score the other day. Will dip that down a little bit," reckon Nick Knight and Samuel Badree. 

Played: 17

Rajasthan: 9

Hyderabad: 8

Kumar Sangakkara: "Games like these, most sides have pretty bad games. Unfortunately we've had one now late in the tournament. We're still a high quality side playing some very good cricket if you take this one out of the equation. We've got to accept the fact that we were extremely poor [against GT]. That's the first step, you realise it, you accept it and then try to come up with solutions for what the problems are. We know what the issues were. Just training mindlessly is not the way. It's just the case of making sure the guys are committed to coming back harder, smarter in the next game and committing to the quality of cricket that we play."

Aiden Markram: "For us, I think the equation now is quite simple. We haven't done the math yet but we're assuming it is a must-win game every time we take the field so the guys are looking forward to that. It's not the most ideal position for the team to be in but unfortunately we can't undo the past. We've got five games to look forward to."

RR– Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Devdutt Padikkal, Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel, R Ashwin, 8 Jason Holder, Trent Boult, Sandeep Sharma, Yuzvendra Chahal

Impact player – Kuldip Yadav

SRH – Abhishek Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram (c), Harry Brook, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Abdul Samad, Marco Jansen, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mayank Markande, Umran Malik

Despite having one of the most balanced squads and being considered as many the side has not underperformed massively in the first half of the season.

Lara has tried four opening combinations this season.  “The experiment of trying to get Harry Brook up the order  produced a 100 and if you would ask what team we would want to have at the beginning of the tournament, if we had a fit Abhishek then it’d be Abhishek and Mayank Agarwal,” said Lara after the loss against the Chennai Super Kings. [Read Tanishq Vaddi's feature on the struggles of Hyderabad this season]

“Maxi had both his legs on the wide line outside leg . As soon as I bowled, he came into the stumps and it was called wide. And when I asked Michael Gough the umpire, he told me “its my discretion”.

“When I started to run in, he [Maxwell] went outside the leg stump to that wide line and when I followed him, he came in to the stumps and had it called as a wide. I even referred it …”. Ashwin was seen debating with Gough as the third umpire consulted replays. Ashwin also had something to say about the new rule of fielding teams allowed to refer wide and no-balls. [Read more]

In Ahmedabad, Gujarat Titans have posted 227/2, courtesy of openers Wriddhiman Saha (81 off 43) and Shubman Gill (94 off 51) firing on all cylinders. On the other hand, Lucknow Super Giants are on the offensive, 76/0 after seven overs. [Follow live updates and all the action from the Narendra Modi Stadium)

Playing cricket ‘according to the situation’ vs letting the bat go – the debate in T20 cricket over the strike rate of batters and whether the anchor role remains, continues on.

Defending his role, Kohli had earlier told Robin Uthappa on JioCinema, “I’m not thinking about strike rate. ‘Oh, my strike rate must be 160 plus or anything’. I play T20 cricket according to the situation. If the situation demands I can play 230 strike rate and I can do this any day. I always play for my team & not for myself.” [Read Rahul Pandey's feature in the aftermath of Kohli's 46-ball-55]

It was as if Pathirana was living his dream in front of a packed crowd, as his three wickets in the end denied Mumbai Indians a chance to put up a competitive total.