BOWLERS BACK BUTTLER’S PERFORMANCE TO HELP RR DEFEAT SRH

NEW DELHI: Jos Buttler’s masterful 124-run knock was followed by a spirited bowling performance as Rajasthan Royals (RR) defeated SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) by 55 runs in an Indian Premier League (IPL) encounter here at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Sunday.

For RR, Chris Morris and Mustafizur Rahman scalped three wickets each. For SRH, Manish Pandey was the top scorer after playing a knock of 31 runs. With this win, Rajasthan has moved to the sixth spot with 6 points from 7 games while SRH remains at the bottom spot with just two points. Chasing 221, SRH got off to a steady start as openers Jonny Bairstow and Manish Pandey put on 57 runs inside the first six overs. Mustafizur Rahman provided the breakthrough to Rajasthan as he bowled Pandey (31) in the seventh over. Soon after, Rahul Tewatia removed Bairstow (30) reducing SRH to 70/2 in the 8th over.

Kane Williamson and Vijay Shankar were not able to get on with it and the asking run-rate increased substantially. In trying to hit a big one, Shankar (8) perished in the 11th over off the bowling of Chris Morris. Kartik Tyagi got the biggest wicket in the 13th over as he dismissed Williamson (20) and this left SRH staring down the barrel at 105/4.

Mohammad Nabi played a quickfire cameo of 17 runs from just five balls, but his wicket in the 15th over proved to be the final nail in the coffin. Abdul Samad (10) and Kedar Jadhav (19) added some runs to the total, but in the end, SRH had to stumble to a 55-run loss.

Earlier, Jos Buttler and Sanju Samson starred with the bat as RR posted a score of 220/3 in the allotted twenty overs. Buttler and Samson played knocks of 124 and 48 respectively for the Royals. Riyan Parag also played a useful cameo of 15 runs from eight balls. For SRH, Rashid Khan, Sandeep Sharma, and Vijay Shankar returned with one wicket each.

Asked to bat first, RR was given a blow in the third over of the innings as Rashid Khan had Yashasvi Jaiswal (12) adjudged leg-before wicket. Skipper Sanju Samson next joined Buttler in the middle and the duo Rajasthan’s score to 42/1 at the end of the sixth over. Buttler and Samson continued to frustrate Hyderabad bowlers and in the process, the right-handed Buttler brought up his half-century in the 13th over of the innings. Both batsmen continued with their carnage and SunRisers bowlers had no answers to stop the duo.

The 150-run stand for the second wicket finally came to an end in the 17th over as Vijay Shankar sent Samson (48) back to the pavilion, bringing Riyan Parag to the crease. Buttler registered his century off just 56 balls and he brought up the feat in the 17th over of the innings. In the final three overs, Parag (15*), Buttler (124), and David Miller (7*) managed to add 48 more runs to the total and as a result, Rajasthan registered a score of more than the 215-run mark. Buttler was dismissed by Sandeep Sharma in the penultimate over, but Parag remained unbeaten.

Brief Scores: Rajasthan Royals 220/3 (Jos Buttler 124, Sanju Samson 48, Rashid Khan 1-24) vs SunRisers Hyderabad 165/8 (Manish Pandey 31, Jonny Bairstow 30, Mustafizur Rahman 3-20).