An explosive 91 by skipper Ishan Kishan and four-wicket hauls from debutants Praful Hinge and Sakib Hussain powered Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) to a commanding 57-run win over Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Hyderabad on Monday.
Put in to bat first, SRH posted a formidable 216/6 in their 20 overs. Kishan led from the front with a 44-ball 91, striking eight fours and six sixes. He was supported by Heinrich Klaasen, who made 40 off 26 balls with a four and three sixes, and Nitish Kumar Reddy, who added a quick 28 off 13 balls with four boundaries.
In response, RR’s chase of 217 never recovered from a disastrous start. Debutant Praful Hinge tore through the top order in the opening over, finishing with figures of 4/34. RR were reduced to 9/5 inside three overs, effectively ending the contest early.
Praful struck immediately, dismissing Vaibhav Suryavanshi for a golden duck and removing Dhruv Jurel (0) and Lhuan Dre Pretorious (0) in the same over. In the next over, Sakib Hussain joined the assault by removing Yashasvi Jaiswal for one run. Praful then returned to dismiss RR skipper Riyan Parag for four, leaving RR reeling at 9/5.
Ravindra Jadeja and Donovan Ferreira attempted a recovery with a 118-run partnership. The duo took RR to 40/5 in six overs and then past the 50-run mark in the seventh. At the halfway stage, RR were 70/5, with Jadeja and Ferreira unbeaten.
Ferreira counterattacked, reaching his half-century in 31 balls with six fours and two sixes. RR crossed the 100-run mark in 12.2 overs as the pair tried to rebuild. However, Sakib broke the stand by dismissing Ferreira for 69 off 44 balls, an innings that included seven fours and three sixes. RR were 127/6 in 15 overs.
Jadeja followed soon after, falling for 45 off 32 balls with five fours, as RR slipped to 129/7. Sakib then wrapped up the lower order, dismissing Jofra Archer and Ravi Bishnoi in the 17th over. RR were eventually bowled out for 159 in 19 overs.
Earlier, SRH had recovered from an early setback after Abhishek Sharma fell for a golden duck. Kishan and Travis Head counterattacked, taking SRH to 51/1 in the powerplay. Head made 18 before falling, but Kishan continued his aggressive approach.
Kishan reached his fifty in 30 balls and dominated the middle overs, including a 17-run over against Tushar Deshpande. He shared an 88-run stand with Klaasen before being dismissed for 91 by Sandeep Sharma, leaving SRH at 154/3.
Klaasen added valuable runs before falling for 40, while Nitish Kumar Reddy’s late hitting and contributions from Salil Arora helped SRH cross the 200-run mark. SRH finished at 216/6, with Salil unbeaten on 24.
For RR, Archer was the pick of the bowlers with 2/37, while Deshpande, Sandeep Sharma and Riyan Parag took one wicket each.
With this result, RR’s four-match winning streak came to an end, though they remain at the top of the table. SRH, meanwhile, registered their second win of the season and moved up to fourth place.
Brief Scores:
Sunrisers Hyderabad 216/6 (Ishan Kishan 91, Heinrich Klaasen 40)
Rajasthan Royals 159 (Donovan Ferreira 69, Ravindra Jadeja 45)
SRH won by 57 runs
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