Hyderabad: Rajasthan Royals began their Indian Premier League 2023 campaign with a resounding 72-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sunday.
In what was a total team performance, batsman Jos Buttler (54; 7x4, 3x6), Yashasvi Jaiswal (54; 9x4) and Sanju Samson (55; 3x4, 4x6) helped RR post a mammoth 203/5, while Yuzvendra Chahal (4-0-17-4) and Trent Boult (4-1-21-2) led the charge to take the team home.
Enjoying the luxury of a massive total, the RR bowlers looked at ease as they ran through the Hyderabad batting line-up without much fuss. Leading the attack was the Purple Cap holder from last season, Chahal, who looked in no mood to give up on his title. With the skipper using his wicket-taker smartly, the Indian international repaid the faith with a wicket in each of his four overs.
The first to go was SRH’s new man, Harry Brook. Having come out with his team struggling, Brook failed to read the pace and saw his woodwork disturbed as he stepped back to make some room for himself. This was Yuzi’s 300th wicket in T20s, making him the first Indian to reach the milestone in the format.
Mayank Agarwal was the next as his slog hit found Buttler in the deep. Later, Adil Rashid was sent packing by some quick work from Samson behind the stumps while Bhuvneshwar Kumar was cleaned up with a flat one.
But before Chahal could come into the act, Boult gave Royals a dream start with two wickets in the opening over of the chase. While Sharma saw his timber rocked from a peach – an out-swinging yorker – Tripathi’s stay was cut short following an outstanding catch from Jason Holder at slip. Holder then returned to pocket his first wicket in pink for the Royals, dismissing Washington Sundar in the ninth over.
Earlier, having sent into bat, our batters made the most of a flat deck at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium to post an imposing 203/5 in their 20 overs. Leading the assault was Buttler who continued from where he left off last season. Be it the casual flick over mid-wicket to send the SRH captain to the stands or the two sixes to welcome Sundar in the fourth, the Englishman displayed impeccable timing to take the Hyderabad bowling apart.
Jaiswal too didn’t relent and was on the money from the word go. The 21-year-old showed his class with a gentle push down the ground off a Bhuvneshwar delivery that crawled its way to the boundary. Later, he took Fazalhaq Farooqi to task with another stylish shot displaying the form he’s been in this season.
The opening duo spared none and went all guns blazing at the SRH attack in the powerplay with Buttler bringing up his half-century in just 20 balls. The Englishman, however, was on his way back soon after misjudging the pace of a Farooqi delivery that nipped back in to clip the top of his off-stump.
But that didn’t stop the Royal charge as skipper Samson joined forces with Jaiswal and the two continued to build the innings. The Royals made the most of the powerplay restrictions to bring up their best-ever show in the opening six overs and then held the fort by playing the bowlers on their merit.
Rashid kept things tight in the middle overs with some smart bowling while Farooqi returned for a second spell to dismiss Jaiswal, but not before he brought up a well-deserved fifty. It also meant the Indian youngster completed 1000 runs in T20s.
While the Royals’ momentum was halted a bit, with Devdutt Padikkal and Riyan Parag barely troubling the scorers, our skipper held up one end with some delightful batting and brought up his fifty in the 17th over. Samson has now scored a half-century in each of the opening IPL matches since 2020. (UNI)