Debutant Jason Roy and captain Kane Williamson thrilled with the bat as SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) defeated Rajasthan Royals (RR) by 7 wickets in their Indian Premier League (IPL) encounter here at the Dubai International Stadium on Monday.
Dubai [UAE], September 27 : Jason Roy and Kane Williamson played innings of 60 and 51* respectively as SRH chased the target of 165 in 18.3 overs. Abhishek Sharma also played a crucial knock of 21* to carry his team over the victory line. For the Royals, their captain Sanju Samson played an all-important inning of 82 which in the end was just not enough. Chasing the target of 165, Hyderabad enjoyed a terrific start as their openers Jason Roy and Wriddhiman Saha amassed 57 runs in the first 5 overs. SRH duo gathered whopping 18 runs in the fifth over of Chris Morris. RR had some respite after Mahipal Lomror struck in the last over of powerplay as he sent back Wriddhiman Saha to the pavilion. Saha walked back after scoring 18 runs off 11 balls. SRH score read 63/1 after the first six overs. Kane Williamson who joined Roy on the pitch continued the proceeding for the team in orange in the middle overs. With comfortable hammering of RR bowlers, the SRH score read 90/1 after 10 overs. In the 11th over of the innings, all hell went loose on RR, as Jason Roy went berserk after scoring his fifty on SRH debut. Englishman along with his skipper smashed Rahul Tewatia’s over for 21 runs. Jason Roy was sent back to the pavilion by Chetan Sakariya in the very next over. Roy walked back after scoring a superb 60 off 42. SRH had their hopes high after Mustafizur Rahman removed Priyam Garg for the first-ball duck in the 13th over. Kane Williamson was then joined by Abhishek Sharma on the pitch and the duo brilliantly steadied the ship for SRH. The pair applied caution with delightful strokeplay and made sure to take their team over the line without any more setbacks. In the penultimate over of the match, Kane Williamson reached his fifty after scoring back-to-back boundaries and also completed the run-chase with minimum fuss. Kane Williamson and Abhishek Sharma remained unbeaten with scores of 51* and 21* respectively. Earlier, Sanju Samson starred with the bat as Rajasthan Royals (RR) posted a score of 164/5 in their allotted twenty overs. Samson played an all-important inning of 82. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Mahipal Lomror also played crucial innings of 36 and 29* respectively for the team in pink. Siddarth Kaul scalped two wickets, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Sandeep Sharma and Rashid Khan returned with one wicket each for SRH. Opting to bat first, RR had a shaky start after their star opener Evin Lewis walked back to the dressing room in the second over of the innings. Bhuvneshwar Kumar struck on his first ball as Abdul Samad caught Lewis on the fence. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sanju Samson then steadied the ship for the team in pink as the duo gathered 49 runs in the first powerplay. The pair continued with their carnage in the middle overs. In the 9th over, Sandeep Sharma got the important breakthrough for SRH as he broke the dangerous-looking stand between Jaiswal and RR skipper. Jaiswal walked back to the pavilion after scoring 36 off 23 balls. Rashid Khan struck in 11th over for SRH as he removed struggling Liam Livingstone. Abdul Samad caught Livingstone in the deep. Amid this, Sanju Samson continued mixing his caution with some delightful strokeplay. Royals skipper soon crossed the 50 run mark in the 16th over of the innings. RR gathered 20 runs in that over. Siddarth Kaul removed Samson in the last over of the innings. Sanju Samson walked back for 82 off 57 balls. Riyan Parag also got out in that last over as SRH managed to finish on a high at the end of innings. Rajasthan Royals (RR) innings ended on 164/5. Brief Scores: Rajasthan Royals 164/5 (Sanju Samson 82, Yashasvi Jaiswal 36; Siddarth Kaul 2-36, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 1-28) vs SunRisers Hyderabad 167/3 (Jason Roy 60, Kane Williamson 51*; Mahipal Lomror 1-22, Mustafizur Rahman 1-26.)
