Saturday 18 May 2013

PEPSI IPL 2013 Match - 68: SRH vs RR

Sunrisers Hyderabad took a step closer to securing their Playoff seat with a convincing 23-run win over Rajasthan Royals at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Friday night. Batting first, SRH posted 136 on the back of Biplab Samantray's maiden half-century, before their bowlers restricted RR to just 113.

Chasing 137, RR started positively as Rahul Dravid pulled Ishant Sharma for a six and whipped one through midwicket in the second over. Ajinkya Rahane joined in slog-sweeping Karan Sharma for a six. RR made 33 from their Power Play overs with both openers playing conservative cricket. Rahul Dravid (25) was run out by Cameron White as he tried to run off a mis-field.

Karan Sharma then had Rahane (12) caught by Shikhar Dhawan in the ninth over. At the halfway stage, RR were 44 for two, still requiring 93 runs. Sanju Viswanadh (5) holed out in the deep to Steyn off Amit Mishra to leave RR three down in the 12th over. Thisara Perera dealt two major blows in the 14th over as he had Shane Watson (11) caught in the deep by Darren Sammy before bowling Stuart Binny's (8).

Mishra then had Sachin Baby (3) trapped leg before to leave RR six down. The RR capitulation continued as James Faulkner (6) departed after smashing Karan Sharma for a six. Steyn uprooted Brad Hodge's (8) off-stump to deliver the knock-out punch. Kevon Cooper (26) smashed a six off Perera before falling to Steyn in the final over. RR finished 23 runs short.

Earlier SRH won the toss and elected to bat. SRH were shook early as Faulkner struck twice in the second over. First Parthiv Patel (2) was bowled off an inside edge before Dhawan (1) hit one straight to Rahane at point. Watson had White (0) caught in the deep by Siddharth Trivedi to leave SRH reeling at 5 for three. SRH managed only 21 from their Power Play.

Samantray was lucky early on as the RR fielders failed to appeal despite the stumps being broken by a direct hit with the batsman being out of his ground. Trivedi had Vihari (19) miscue to be caught by Baby in the 11th over. Samantray hit Cooper for a boundary and a six in the 14th over.

Sammy (23) deposited Watson into the stands before Faulkner had him caught by Hodge. Samantray (55) who brought up his maiden IPL half-century in the 18th over, perished to Faulkner as he tried to up the ante. Steyn (0) was then bowled by Faulkner as he picked up his second five-wicket haul in the IPL. SRH eventually made 136 for 9.

Amit Mishra




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