Ishan Kishan and Abhishek Sharma scored brilliant half-centuries in Sunrisers Hyderabad's five-wicket win over the Rajasthan Royals in their Tata Indian Premier League match in Jaipur on Saturday evening.
“Good to be on the winning side. I had my chances, lucky day for me,” Abhishek, who is now the orange cap holder, shared.
Pat Cummins, the Sunrisers captain, won the toss and elected to bowl first. The Royals responded to that decision by mounting a total of 228/6. The Sunrisers cantered to 229/5 in 18 overs to claim victory. The Royals will rue the lapses in their fielding that allowed the Sunrisers to maintain a steady pace.
“(We) dropped a few too many catches. Quality players like Abhishek, can't drop quality batters. Could have been better on the field. We've got to be clinical. Fielding plays a major part in that,” Rayan Parag, the Royals’ captain, said.
Kishan top-scored for the Sunrisers with a well-made 74 from 31 balls, while Abhishek scored a 29-ball 57. The pair shared a 132-run second-wicket partnership that set the platform for the Sunrisers. This is Kishan's 20th IPL half-century, while Abhishek recorded his 12th half-century.
“I just wanted to create room just to trouble them with line and length a bit. (That’s) What me and Ishan wanted to do, especially with the new ball,” Abhishek revealed.
Heinrich Klaasen (29) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (36) cobbled a 53-run fourth-wicket partnership that took the Sunrisers to the brink of victory. Salil Arora (8*) and Aniket Verma saw the Sunrisers over the finishing line.
BRILLIANT BATTING
Kishan and Abhishek's half-centuries overshadowed Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's masterful century. The opener hit 12 sixes and five fours on his way to a sensational 37-ball 103. This is the teenager's second IPL century; he faced 36 deliveries to reach the milestone. Sooryavanshi, who was at the crease for 13.5 overs, shared a solid 112-run second-wicket partnership with Dhruv Jurel. The wicketkeeper scored a 35-ball 51.
Donovan Ferreira gave the Royals a late surge with a valuable 33 from 16 deliveries. His hitting saw the Royals over the 200-run mark. The South African star also contributed with the ball. He broke the Sunrisers' dangerous partnership between Ishan Kishan and Abhishek Sharma. The allrounder then took the catch to dismiss Kishan 2.1 overs later.
However, Ferreira’s dismissal in the 18th over saw the Royals’ scoring rate grind to a halt, thanks to the Sunrisers’ excellent death bowling skills.
“We left 10-15 (runs) on the table. To be honest, they bowled well in the 18th and 20th. Executed their yorkers. Would've liked another 15 runs,” Parag shared.
Eshan Malinga was the Sunrisers' most successful bowler with two wickets for 38 runs in four overs. Praful Hinge, Pat Cummins, Sakib Hussain, and Nitish Kumar Reddy contributed a wicket each in the victory.
RAJASTHAN ROYALS: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Riyan Parag (capt), Shimron Hetmyer, Donovan Ferreira, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Tushar Deshpande, Nandre Burger, Brijesh Sharma.
SUNRISERS HYDERABAD: Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Heinrich Klaasen, Salil Arora (wk), Aniket Verma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Pat Cummins (capt), Shivang Kumar, Sakib Hussain, Praful Hinge, Eshan Malinga.