@B0$
It was a day that produced nearly 1000 runs across the two fixtures. It was a day of some ordinary bowling, extremely lackadaisical fielding and breathtaking power-hitting. The theme in Delhi duly spilled over into Jaipur as 228 did not suffice for Rajasthan Royals, with Sunrisers Hyderabad cantering to a five-wicket win to do the double over RR, against whom they have now won six in a row. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi did Vaibhav Sooryavanshi things, but SRH then did SRH things.
@B1$
@B2$: Rajasthan Royals 228/6 in 20 overs [Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 103 (37), Dhruv Jurel 51 (35), Donovan Ferreira 33 (16); Eshan Malinga 2-38] lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad 229/5 in 18.3 overs [Ishan Kishan 74 (31), Abhishek Sharma 57 (29), Nitish Kumar Reddy 36 (18); Jofra Archer 2-34] by 5 wickets.
@B3$
Ishan Kishan and Abhishek Sharma put together a breathtaking partnership of 132 for the second wicket and took just 55 deliveries to do so. RR - outside of Jofra Archer - were abysmal with the ball while multiple dropped catches and misfields marked a torrid day on the park. So much so that even Ravindra Jadeja shelled a sitter at backward point.
A host of false shots headlined the Powerplay but SRH kept swinging and the runs kept coming. Abhishek rode his luck, while Kishan pulverised the bowlers himself, slamming the ball down the ground with utmost ferocity. It came apart dramatically for RR in the sixth over as Brijesh Sharma lost his line completely, spearing far too many well outside leg stump with Kishan dismissing the ball from his presence. An 89-run Powerplay brought the asking rate under 10, after which the Sunrisers simply could not lose.
@B4$
How do you respond to a bowler who dismissed you off the first ball earlier in the season? With four sixes in the first over, according to Vaibhav Sooryavanshi at least.
Praful Hinge returned to the SRH XI but was given a harsh reality check by the same opposition that he reduced to 1/3 on debut. Sooryavanshi swung hard at everything, clubbing four sixes in the first over before dismissing the first ball he faced from Pat Cummins too for six. He had a slice of fortune with a dropped catch and one more prior to that falling short of the fielder. And he maximised it, raising a 15-ball fifty for the third time this season.
He peppered the mid-wicket boundary and the 'V' regularly, leaving SRH gasping for answers, while the slower deliveries were also met with disdain. He then went 6, 4, 6 off Sakib Hussain to raise a 36-ball hundred. As he tried to get too funky with a reverse-scoop, he was dismissed LBW. There was some concern later, however, as he was helped off the field clutching his calf - something that RR wouldn't want to sweat over ahead of the remainder of their campaign.
@B5$
Dhruv Jurel went about his work at a pedestrian rate in the Powerplay and beyond and was on 27 off 25 at one stage. He switched gears in the 11th over, slamming a 101-metre six off Eshan Malinga before backing it up with a boundary. He accelerated to raise a 34-ball fifty with a delightful drive down the ground, although he fell soon after. Donovan Ferreira, sent in at number 5, plundered three fours and as many sixes, while taking apart Sakib Hussain's slower deliveries. At 184/3 in 15 overs, RR had their eyes set on a score close to the 250-mark.
@B6$
Thanks to a defensive masterclass headlined by Cummins himself. The returning SRH skipper cleaned up Riyan Parag with a ripping yorker and continued to target the block hole while also clocking upwards of 140 kph. Hussain couldn't back it up, but Malinga managed to get some tail on his yorker, sending down a five-run 19th over, before Hinge - who fired in four dots in the 16th - closed out the innings with a 10-run over that included the wicket of Shimron Hetmyer. He almost had Ravindra Jadeja out too, only for Travis Head to ground a catch off the last ball.
Speaking of Head...
@B7$
It could have easily been mistaken for a Test match under lights in Perth. Jofra Archer swung the ball, got it to seam sharply off the surface and cranked up the speed guns. Head was squared up first ball but Jurel dropped him diving to his left. The southpaw continued to feel the heat and was beaten neck and crop on multiple occasions in the first over, before Archer induced the edge again. This time, Jurel did not err.
Kishan was greeted by a vicious bouncer that somehow hit the top-half of his bat and flew over Jurel's head for six. Archer continued to breathe fire in his second over and got the ball to talk, but was devoid of luck.
@B8$
The partnership between Abhishek and Kishan sent RR into submission. Their dismissals in the middle-overs did not help, even as Parag's gamble to bowl Donovan Ferreira (and himself) ahead of Ravi Bishnoi worked, with Ferreira dismissing Abhishek. Archer had to return at some point and he nabbed Kishan, but he was the victim of another dropped chance as Brijesh let Nitish Reddy off at deep third man. Both Nitish and Heinrich Klaasen chipped in with cameos, and a 20-run 17th over sent down by Tushar Deshpande rendered any slender hope of a Royals comeback moot. And in a manner that summed up the day, Salil Arora sealed the game with a six.
@B9$
RR travel to New Chandigarh to face table-toppers Punjab Kings on Tuesday (April 28). SRH play the next day against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday (April 29).
