Following Rajasthan Royals’ (RR) 36-run defeat to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the Qualifier 2 match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, RR Director of Cricket Kumar Sangakkara remarked that the team had a great season overall. During the post-match press conference, Sangakkara mentioned that they began the tournament well but faced some narrow losses in the latter half.
“I think it was a great season for us. We started really well and then we lost a close game to SRH in Hyderabad and [in] Delhi also we put ourselves in winning positions,” Sangakkara said.
He praised his players, stating they played “phenomenal” cricket throughout the tournament.
“Sometimes you have streaks, RCB lost almost every game at the start and then caught up. That’s how T20 goes. All we can do is put ourselves in positions of playoffs and vying for finals which we did. I think all the guys throughout the season played really phenomenal cricket. There was a little bit of fatigue of course at the back end but it doesn’t really matter when you’re in games like this, you gotta just turn up and perform,” he added.
In a recap of the match, Rajasthan Royals won the toss and opted to field first. Heinrich Klaasen (50 runs off 34 balls, including 4 sixes) and Rahul Tripathi (37 runs off 15 balls, including 5 fours and 2 sixes) were standout performers in the first innings, contributing significantly to Sunrisers Hyderabad’s total of 175/9. Travis Head (34 runs off 28 balls, including 3 fours and 1 six) also made a valuable contribution while opening for the Hyderabad-based team.
Rajasthan’s bowling attack, led by Trent Boult and Avesh Khan, impressed as both pacers claimed three wickets each during their spells.
During the chase, Yashasvi Jaiswal (42 runs off 21 balls, including 4 fours and 3 sixes) and Dhruv Jurel (56 runs off 35 balls, including 7 fours and 2 sixes) showcased effort but fell short of the target. Rajasthan Royals suffered a 36-run defeat against SRH, unable to counter the opposition bowlers effectively.
Shahbaz Ahmed led SRH’s bowling effort with 3 wickets in his four-over spell, while Abhishek Sharma took 2 wickets in his four-over stint.
Sunrisers Hyderabad will meet Kolkata Knight Riders in the final of IPL 2024 edition at Chepauk on Sunday.
