IPL 2019, RR vs SRH: Clinical Rajasthan topple Hyderabad in final home match

Rajasthan Royals won the toss against Sunrisers Hyderabad and opted to field first in match 45 of the Indian Premier League 2019. For SRH, Kane Williamson, Wriddhiman Saha, Siddarth Kaul come in as Jonny Bairstow, Yusuf Pathan, Sandeep Sharma go out. Rajasthan also made two changes as Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer were replaced by Liam Livingstone and Ashton Turner.

First innings:

Manish Pandey hit a quick half-century before Sunrisers Hyderabad witnessed a middle-order collapse to be restricted to 160 for eight against Rajasthan Royals. Sent into bat, Sunrisers got off too a good start even after the early dismissal of skipper Kane Williamson (13) with David Warner and Manish Pandey sharing 75 runs off just 50 balls for the second wicket before losing the plot after the halfway stage.

Nicely placed 103 for one after 12 overs, Sunrisers lost their next seven wickets for just 44 runs before Rashid Khan (17 not out off 8) played a short cameo towards the end to take the visitors to the 160-run mark. Wickets kept on tumbling for Sunrisers after a fine first wicket stand between Warner and Pandey. The next to depart was Deepak Hooda for a duck caught one-handed off his own bowling by Unadkat (2/26) in the next over. But Rashid took the onus on himself and garnered 18 runs off Aaron’s final over to take Sunrisers to a respectable total.

Second innings:

Chasing 161, Liam Livingstone (44 off 26) and Ajinkya Rahane (39 off 34) got Rajasthan off to a flying start with the former taking the attack to the opposition. The duo raced off to 78 off 55 balls for the opening wicket, picking up 60 runs off the first six powerplay overs before Livingstone departed in the 10th over, edging one to Wriddhiman Saha behind the stumps off Rashid Khan’s (1/30) bowling. An over later Rajasthan suffered yet another blow in the form of Rahane, caught by David Warner at long-off off Shakib Al Hasan (1/26).

Then Sanju Samson (48 not out off 32) and skipper Steve Smith (22) held fort and shared 55 runs in 5.3 overs to take Rajasthan within sniffing distance of win before the latter departed. But by that time the damage had already been done for Sunrisers as Samson and Ashton Turner completed the formalities with ease. Rajasthan chased down the target in 19.1 overs.

Gamechanger:

The game-changing moment came in the match when Rajasthan Royals skipper Seve Smith grabbed a stunning catch to get rid of Sunrisers Hyderabad opener David Warner. Warner, who was chasing the record of scoring the sixth consecutive half-century in IPL, played an aerial shot over mid-off but Smith kept his eyes on the ball, running backward and put a full-stretched dive to complete the catch.

Warner had a good partnership going with Manish Pandey and the duo had added 75 runs together. After Warner’s dismissal, wickets started falling in heaps and from 103/1, RR slipped down to 137/7 by the 19th over. It allowed the hosts to get the momentum in the match.

Captains speak:

Kane Williamson: “I think it was the nature of the surface, if you pick up wickets, starting was quite tough. Potentially a competitive total. But they did it a little bit better than we did. They kept wickets in hand and we weren’t able to get the breakthroughs we usually get. (Pandey) is playing with some nice freedom. Couple of great performances. A little bit disappointing today, but very fine lines in this game. It started to reverse a little bit with the surface so we thought it’s best to stick with our five (frontline) bowlers and not go to a sixth.”

Steve Smith: “Just landed on the elbow. Hopefully it’s okay. I’ll know more when I take the tape off. But it was a good end to our home season. The boys pulled it back nicely in the middle overs. We used the change of pace well. We were able to restrict them to 160 which I thought was about par. Liam Livingstone opening for the first time in IPL hit the ball cleanly and Sanju finished it off well. We’re playing together as a group and winning those key moments. At the start we weren’t doing it. We’ve had a lot of close games and fortunately last few we’ve been able to get over the line. For us it’s just about going on winning and then we’ll see what happens. I’ve got one more match in Bangalore, so it’ll be nice to finish off on a winning note, and hopefully the boys can win in Delhi too.”

Scorecard: Sunrisers Hyderabad (Pandey 61, Warner 37; Unadkat 2/26); Rajasthan Royals (Samson 48*, Livingstone 44; B Shakib 1/26)

(With inputs from PTI)