IPL 2023: RR thumped SRH in the first game on Sunday. (IPL/Twitter)IPL 2023, Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Rajasthan Royals Highlights: Rajasthan Royals dished out a superlative batting display to post a massive 203/5 against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Saturday. Put in to bat, the Royals got off to a flying start with T20 World Cup-winning England skipper Jos Buttler smacking 54 off 22 balls (7×4, 3×6). Promising uncapped Indian Yashasvi Jaiswal made an identical 54 (37b; 9×4) as the opening duo put together 85 runs inside the Powerplay.
After the duo’s departure, skipper Sanju Samson maintained their momentum in his 32-ball 55 (3×4, 4×6).
T Natarajan (3-0-23-2) was the pick of SRH bowler and dragged the Royals back in a tidy penultimate over where he dismissed Samson and gave away just seven runs. Left-arm Afghan pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi returned with 2 for 41.
Sunrisers Hyderabad
131/8 (20.0)Rajasthan Royals
203/5 (20.0)Rajasthan Royals beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 72 runs
6 1 N6 1 4 4 0 = 23 from the last over | Sensational hits in the last over from Umran Malik and Samad in the final over but it is just not enough! Rajasthan Royals thrash SRH by 72 runs to open their account in IPL 2023.
Umran Malik brings some smiles to the crowds with a four and a six! Boult also has a wry smile on his face. However, these lusty blows will help in some way ( NRR). Score after 19 overs, SRH: 108/8
BOWLED! Chahal gets the better of Bhuvneshwar! Fourth for the leg-spinner!! The batter completely missed the line of the ball and he is out for 6(10) | Score after 18 overs, SRH: 95/8
Jason Holder, after bowling two overs, is back into the attack. He concedes just three from his over. Terrific stuff. Just a matter of time now. Score after 17 overs, SRH: 92/7
Sanju Samson's first innings of a new IPL season (oldest to newest): 4, 5, 15, 13, 49, 30, 74, 119, 55, 55 | Score after 15 overs, SRH: 85/7
Adil Rashid is gone for 18(13) courtesy of some brilliant glovework by Sanju Samson. Yuzvendra Chahal gets his third. The Sunrisers won’t come up against such a ruthless display from the Royals every game. With their skipper & his fellow Proteas to come in still believe they can have a good season. Score after 14 overs, SRH: 81/7
Atlast the SRH fans who have turned up in numbers have something to cheer about! Adil Rashid smashes Ashwin for a SIX! down the ground. Score after 12 overs, SRH: 63/6
Yuzvendra Chahal removes Mayank Agarwal (27) and that is probably the game! It was the wrong 'un and the batter went for the big slog-sweep but is caught at long off by Buttler. The Impact sub comes in for RR now. Navdeep Saini replaces Jaiswal. Score after 11 overs, SRH: 52/6
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Rajasthan Royals are all over Sunrisers Hyderabad in Hyderabad. Ashwin sanres Glenn Phillips! out Caught by KM Asif!! It was tossed up and Glenn Phillips fell into the trap and hits it striaght to cover. Glenn Phillips is out for 8(6) | Abdul Samad in as impact player for Fazalhaq Farooqi. Score after 10 overs, SRH: 48/5
Trent Boult is no longer a fan of the daily grind of international cricket. That’s why he has turned his back on a New Zealand Cricket central contract. He believes at this stage of his career, he’s better off spending most of his time displaying his skills in various T20 leagues around the world. New Zealand’s loss is the gain of the franchises Boult plays for, as Mumbai Indians earlier and Rajasthan Royals now will testify. The left-armer is still one of the best white-ball operators going around, especially at the start of an innings, as Sunrisers Hyderabad found out to their cost.
Moving the ball in the air away from the left-hander is Boult’s signature move. Maybe, Abhishek Sharma didn’t know. After defending two such balls, the left-hander was in the mood for something a bit more adventurous.
No chance. A full ball that swung towards the batsman at the beginning of its journey prompted him to give himself some room to access the off-side.
But the ball had other ideas. It swerved away late to hit the base of off-stump, leaving the shell-shocked youngster to look back at the destruction left behind him.
Next batsman Rahul Tripathi has a reputation of an attacking batsman to maintain, and advanced a couple of steps, only to edge it to slip where a diving Jason Holder held on to a spectacular catch.
Sunrisers had learnt a costly lesson, and proceeded to just play out the remainder of Boult’s opening salvo.
-Tushar Bhaduri
WICKET! Washington Sundar is gone ! Caught by Hetmyer!! Holder with the short ball does the trick and it seems like the game is slipping away from the hands of SRH! Washington Sundar is out for 1(5). SRH: 39/4 in 8.2 ovs | Timeout!
KM Asif back to bowl the 8th over and Myaank rotates strike with a single. Sundar navigates the next two balls but gets no run off them. Ultimately takes a single off the 4th ball. Excellent fielding by Jaiswal to save a sureshot boundary!! Good over. SRH 38/3 after 8 overs
Chahal is introduced and he starts the 2023 season just like he ended the 2022 edition. Brook finds it difficult to paly him and gives away his wicket as the ball goes straight through him and rattles the stumps. SRH 34/3 after 7 overs
It's time for spin as Ravichandran Ashwin is introduced to bowl the last over inside powerplay. 3 runs from the first 2 balls as the SRH batters rotate strikes quickly. The 3rd ball yield 2 more runs as Mayank and Brook keep the scoreboard ticking. Mayank pulls the last ball in the powerplay to get a much-needed boundary. SRH 30/2 after 6 overs
Boult in to bowl his 3rd over and RR's 5th. He keeps maintaining his superb line with Hyderabad getting just 1 run from the first 3 deliveries. Another very tidy over by the New Zealand pacer. Just 3 off this one. SRH 20/2 after 5 overs
Jason Holder will bowl to his former franchise now and Mayank has swung his bat at the second delivery and it's over the bowler's head, straight down the ground for a boundary!!! Good comeback by the bowler to yield just 1 from the next 2 balls. SRH 17/2 after 4 overs
Boult in to bowl the 3rd and that's an absolutely stunning drive by Mayank to send it packing for a four. This is why SRH doled out the cash for him. Hyderabad need Brook and Mayank to build some sort of a partnership now to steady the innings after those initial setbacks. SRH 12/2 after 3 overs
KM Asif to bowl the second and can he build on the momentum of that Boult first over? Not if Harry Brook has anything to say about it!! The 4th ball of the over is reached out to by the Englishman and sends it straight for a four!! SRH 7-2 after 2 overs
Abhishek Sharma and Mayank are at the crease. Abhishek Sharma is on strike. Boult will open the attack. And he strikes staright away!!! Abhishek Sharma is clean bowled in the very first delivery!!! Tripathi is the new man and what do you know!!!! He goes for the ball and that has been taken sensationally by Holder in the slips!! The batter wants a review as he thinks it's a bump shot but replays show it was a fair one. What a start by RR. SRH 0/2 after 1 over
When he bats like he did on Sunday, one wonders why Sanju Samson hasn’t quite cut it at the international level. Maybe, it’s a case of the so-called ‘red mist’, and going for an inopportune shot before being properly set. The Rajasthan Royals skipper displays what is called ‘lazy power’. His straight hits off spin and seam alike are something to behold, and captaincy seems to have taken his game a notch higher. An innings of 55 off 32 balls, coming in to bat at No. 3, ensured that he remained till the 19th over, but his three fours and four sixes ensured that the momentum was never totally lost. Samson never seemed to take a backward step, even against the express pace of Umran Malik. But his dismissal in the penultimate over denied the Rajasthan Royals the much-needed finishing kick, as T Natarajan and Fazalhaq Farooqui applied the brakes, and the team ended with a lot fewer than they would have been aiming for at one stage of the innings.
-Tushar Bhaduri
A four and a couple from the bat of Hetmyer to end the innings! Rajasthan will be a happy dugout! The Royals get to a formidable total on the board. Buttler, Jaiswal & Samson slammed half-centuries to power RR to 203/5 in 20 ovs. Will SRH chase it down? Stay tuned
Impressive catch by Abhishek Sharma at the ropes, Sanju Samson goes for 55. Ravichandran Ashwin comes to the crease and he is off the mark with a four! Tremendous stuff! No looking for a single despite a wicket falling! Score after 19 overs, RR: 193/5
Sanju Samson is in mood, after reaching his fifty smashes Bhuvi to the fence for a four. It has been a bad day at the office for Bhuvi who also conceded a six in the beginnning of the over to Hetmyer! He has given away 36 in 3 ovs so far! Score after 18 overs, RR: 186/4
Flat pitch, lightning quick outfield, and the afternoon sun beating down – these are conditions to prompt any bowler to consider the futility of his pursuit, or pull a muscle, at least. This is what confronted Sunrisers Hyderabad at their home ground, as they went against Jos Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal. Even mishits went to the boundary or over it, and it seemed the faster Umran Malik bowled, the faster it went off the bat, even if it was a top edge. The Powerplay carnage yielded 85 runs for the loss of Buttler’s wicket, but the Englishman had reached 50 by then, off just 20 balls. Going by the purple patch he was in last season, as Rajasthan Royals went all the way to the final, Sunrisers may be thinking they got away lightly in the first game.
It slowed down a bit thereafter, as Jaiswal chose to consolidate rather than continue in the same vein, but the fourth match of the season kept up with the trend of teams batting first getting off to a turbocharged start. --- Tushar Bhaduri
T Natarajan snares Riyan Parag, who is out caught by Fazalhaq Farooqi! Parag tried to drive but got a thick outside-edge that went straight to the short third man! Meanwhile, Samson reaches his 50! Score after 17 overs, RR: 173/4
Bowled!! Umran Malik strikes to get rid off Padikkal. He is gone for 2. That was bowled at 149kmph! Score after 15 overs, RR: 160/3
Yashasvi Jaiswal scores a fine 54 before succumbing to Fazalhaq Farooqi who takes his second wicket. An excellent knock from Yashasvi Jaiswal comes to an end. Score after 13 overs, RR: 141/2
Adil Rashid comes into bowl his third over and Samson welcomes him with a SIX! This ploy of hitting a big one in the start of the over does put pressure on the bowler. It was short and gets the treatment it deserves. 10 runs from the over. Score after 11 overs, RR: 132/1
Five runs from the Adil Rashid over. Under these circumstances it is a really good one for SRH. Score after 9 overs, RR: 110/1
Sanju Samson brings up RR's hundred with a four off Umran Malik in just 7.4 overs. Will RR score the first 200 of the season? Yashasvi Jaiswal (38) and Sanju Samson (11) in the middle. Score after 8 overs, RR: 105/1
Fastest 50 for RR in IPL (by balls faced):
18 - Jos Buttler vs DC, Delhi (2018)
19 - Owais Shah vs RCB, Bengaluru (2012)
19 - Sanju Samson vs CSK, Sharjah (2020)
19 - Yashasvi Jaiswal vs CSK, Abu Dhabi (2021)
20 - Jos Buttler vs SRH, Hyderabad (2023)*
What a peach of a delivery by Fazalhaq Farooqi to get rid of Jos Buttler. But lets take a moment to realize what a partnership that was. Buttler has a fifty in the power play! Score after 6 overs, RR: 85/1 | This is RR's highest PP score in IPL, bettering their 81/1 vs CSK in Abu Dhabi in 2021
Rajasthan is off to a flying start as Buttler continues to find the rope. Score after 5 overs, RR: 73/0
6 6 0 1 4 2 = 19 from the over! Buttler and Jaiswal are dealing in fours and sixes! Washington Sundar seems clueless at the moment! Jos the Boss and Yashasvi showing us the purpose of powerplays. Carnage. Score after 4 overs, RR: 56/0
Bhuvneshwar misses the line and length and Buttler flicks it over mid-wicket for a maximum! Such class from the England captain and that sails away for an 81-metre six!! Then Jaiswal finishes the over with two fours. 17 from the over! WOW! Score after 3 overs, RR: 37/0
Fazalhaq Farooqi, left-arm fast medium, comes into the attack is welcomed to the crease with a four and the second last ball is also hit for a boundary. 14 from it. Score after 2 overs, RR: 20/0
Bhuvneshwar bowls it fuller and Jaiswal hits it down the ground and the fast outfield takes the ball to the fence. Score after 1 over, RR: 6/0
Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler are in the middle and Jaiswal is on strike. Bhuvneshwar will open the attack. Let's Play!
A moment of silence to mourn the loss of Salim Durani. Failing to recover from a fall in January this year, Durani, 88, passes away. A genteel soul from a bygone era, and as that cliché goes, they don’t make them like him anymore. Read Sriram Veera's obit on the legendary player.
Mayank Agarwal, Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, Harry Brook, Washington Sundar, Glenn Phillips(w), Umran Malik, Adil Rashid, Bhuvneshwar Kumar(c), T Natarajan, Fazalhaq Farooqi
Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson(w/c), Devdutt Padikkal, Riyan Parag, Shimron Hetmyer, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jason Holder, Trent Boult, KM Asif, Yuzvendra Chahal
'This is a new IPL with new rules. We have to respect the opponents and play to our strengths. Always feel good to wear this jersey, locking forward to playing in Jaipur. (On Sangakkara) We have a good relationship with each other. Discuss things regularly before games. Four foreigners today for us - Buttler, Holder, Boult and Hetmyer.'
"We will bowl first, looks like a good batting wicket. Will take advantage with the chase. I'll try my and do the best for the team. Farooqi, Harry Brook, Adil Rashid, Glenn Phillips are our four foreigners."
Sunrisers Hyderabad have won the toss and opted to bowl first.
“Come next season, all of us will have to come back differently.”
This will be Rajasthan Royals’ 200th match in all T20 competitions
Yashasvi Jaiswal needs 47 more runs to reach 1000 runs in T20s
Yuzvendra Chahal needs 1 wicket to complete 300 wickets in T20s.
Murugan Ashwin needs six more wickets to complete 100 T20 wickets
Jason Holder needs another wicket to reach 200 T20 wickets
Umran Malik is easily the fastest bowler to emerge from India in recent years. His 150 kph-plus deliveries during the recent Indian Premier League have left both fans and experts in awe. "I feel proud when I play in the IPL and people are waving banners and singing my name. It gives me a boost and gives me the confidence to perform better. The support of the people has been immense and it has felt good to receive," he said.
Pace scrambles brains, especially when it’s over 150kph variety like Malik unleashes. Malik, who has bagged 22 wickets in 14 IPL games at the Indian Express Idea Exchange admitted that he loved taking the wickets of international cricketers with the bouncers and yorkers.“I floored (Andre) Russell with a bouncer and dismissed Shreyas Iyer with a yorker. These I enjoyed a lot,” he said. “I enjoyed the wicket of Matthew Wade as well.”
Jos Buttler has struggled against Bhuvneshwar Kumar in T20 cricket. In the 76 deliveries that Bhuvi has bowled Buttler has scored just 79 runs at a strike rate of 103 but most importantly has been dismissed five times
Since 2018 the average score at Hyderabad in the first-innings is 167. To win, you need a score of 168. It’s likely that a par line will be set in the mid-170s.. The Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad has hosted a total of 64 IPL games so far, where the team batting second have been really successful.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been a constant with the orange army since 2013 and he knows the ethos and how the team functions. Having led the side on seven occasions, he knows the home ground like the back of his hand and the knowledge could come in handy on Sunday.
SRH boast of a powerful pace bowling line-up featuring the fiery Umran Malik, the experienced Bhuvneshwar and South Africa's Marco Jansen. The same can also be said for the Royals who have New Zealand quick Trent Boult, West Indian Obed McCoy and Navdeep Saini among others in their ranks. So one thing is for sure, tonight will be a lip-smacking fiery contest.
It does seem like Englishman Joe Root will not make his debut tonight in the Indian Premier League since the Royals are likely to give starts to Jos Buttler, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, and Trent Boult as the four foreign players.
SRH, sans their regular skipper, will look to find their feet after debacles in the two previous editions of the IPL. While they finished eighth and last in 2021 in a season marred by captaincy woes involving David Warner, IPL 2022 didn't change their fortunes much, with the side again finishing eighth among 10 teams under new skipper Kane Williamson.
Sunrisers Hyderabad's batting will have to guard against the wily leg-spinner Chahal, who had emerged the highest wicket-take in IPL 2022 with 27 scalps. Ashwin, on the other hand, would be buoyed by his showing in the recent Border-Gavaskar Test series, where he grabbed 25 wickets in eight innings, though he is on to a different format.
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) battle Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the match four of the IPL 2023 on Sunday (April 2) at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. A well-balanced squad at their disposal, Rajasthan Royals would look to recreate this year the same magic which saw them emerge second best in IPL 2022, as they take on Sunrisers Hyderabad in their campaign opener on Sunday. Stay tuned for updates