Rajasthan: Rajasthan Royals defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad by seven wickets on Saturday at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium here in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL).
Chasing a total of 161 runs, Rajasthan had a good start as their opening batsmen, Ajinkya Rahane and Liam Livingstone, struck regular boundaries giving their side a good momentum.
Both stitched a 78-run partnership which came to an end when Rashid Khan got hold of Livingstone, who scored 44 runs.
Sanju Samson then came out to bat but the partnership between Samson and Rahane did not last long as Rahane gave away his wicket after scoring 39 runs.
Skipper Steve Smith then accompanied Samson and both added another 55 runs to the scoreboard before Smith got out. However, both had already set the base for the upcoming batsman as they were just 13 runs away from victory.
Ashton Turner came out to bat and both Turner and Samson took their side over the line and won the match by seven wickets.
Earlier, Hyderabad, who were sent to bat first, started off steadily as they accumulated 27 runs in the first three overs. The 28-run partnership between David Warner and Kane Williamson came to an end when the latter gave away his wicket on 13 runs.
Manish Pandey then joined Warner and both played some really good shots and added regular boundaries which kept the scoreboard running.
Both stitched an amazing 75-run partnership before Oshane Thomas sent Warner (37) back to the pavilion. Although Warner fell 13 runs short for his eight half-century but he became the only player to cross the 600-run mark in this season of IPL.
Soon after Warner’s dismissal, Pandey too lost his wicket. However, Pandey scored his second half-century as he played a brilliant knock of 61 runs off just 36 balls.
After Warner and Pandey partnership, Hyderabad was unable to pull off any good partnerships. Despite losing wickets, Hyderabad was able to set a respectable target of 161 runs for the visitors, thanks to Rashid Khan’s mini-feature of 17 runs off just eight deliveries.
Hyderabad will now host Kings XI Punjab on April 29 while Rajasthan will visit Bangalore to face Royal Challengers Bangalore on April 30.
Brief scores: Rajasthan Royals (Sanju Samson 48*, Liam Livingstone 44, Rashid Khan 1-30) defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad (Manish Pandey 61, David Warner 37, Jaydev Unadkat 2-26) by seven wickets.
[source_without_link]ANI[/source_without_link]