Rajasthan Royals squandered away a strong start and were restricted to a modest total of 154 for 6 against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Dream11 Indian Premier League at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Thursday.
In the 40th match of the season, Rajasthan Royals, who were asked to bat first by SRH skipper David Warner, got off to a flying start as Ben Stokes (30: 32 balls, 2×4) and Robin Uthappa (19: 13 balls, 2×4, 1×6) started playing aggressively from the word go.
Just when Uthappa was going great guns, he got run out by a direct throw from Jason Holder off his own delivery. Samson then joined Stokes and maintained the flow of runs. At one stage, RR were well-placed at 86 for 1 in the 12th over. They put on a 56-run partnership for the second wicket in 49 balls.
However, the fall of Samson’s wicket triggered the collapse. Samson (36: 26 balls, 3×4, 1×6) became the first of the three wickets of Holder.
Playing his debut match for the SRH, Holder made an immediate impact and put up a brilliant show with the ball to check the rivals.
Holder, who came in for the injured Kane Williamson, impressed in his first match. The West Indies paceman led the SRH bowling attack with a clinical three-wicket haul. Vijay Shankar and Rashid Khan took a wicket piece as the RR batsmen found it tough to cross the boundary ropes.
With Jos Buttler coming in quite late, the England player along with skipper Smith weren’t able to do much damage as the SRH bowlers kept RR in check. The first innings saw only four sixes. Jofra Archer (16 not out off 7 balls) added important runs in the end and helped his side cross the 150 mark.
Brief scores
Rajasthan Royals 154 for 6 in 20 overs (Sanju Samson 36, Ben Stokes 30, Riyan Parag 20, Steve Smith 19, Robin Uthappa 19, Jofra Archer 16 not out; Jason Holder 3-33, Vijay Shankar 1-15, Rashid Khan 1-20) vs Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Courtesy:Â orangecitysports.com