Manish Pandey’s (83*) sensational innings and Vijay Shankar’s (52*) timely support to him have handed over a dominating victory by eight wickets to Sunrisers Hyderabad against Rajasthan Royals. With this win, SRH is still in the race of the playoffs. West Indies skipper Jason Holder (3/33) also gave a good show with the bowl. For Rajasthan, only Sanju Samson (36) and Ben Stokes (30) have managed to do well on the batting front. Jofra Archer (2/21) was great with the ball in the second innings.
After winning the toss, SRH captain David Warner elected to bowl first. The bowlers gave a decent start to their team as RR lost its opener Robin Uthappa pretty early into the innings. However, things were later settled by Ben Stokes and Sanju Samson. They made a partnership of 56 runs for the second wicket. Then, Jason Holder gave a breakthrough by getting the wicket of Samson. In the very next over, Stokes got dismissed as well. After that, Jos Buttler and Steve Smith tried to build a partnership but SRH bowlers never gave them a chance to make it a big one. Buttler got out in the 16th over. Steve Smith and Riyan Parag were dismissed in the 19th over. By the end of 20 overs, RR managed to score 154/6. Jason Holder got three wickets in the innings.
Sunrisers got a nightmarish start while chasing this total. Jofra Archer dismissed opener, David Warner, in the first over itself. He then got the wicket of Jonny Bairstow in the third over. After these two major blows, SRH was saved by Manish Pandey. By scoring huge boundaries in the powerplay, Pandey attacked Rajasthan right when he entered the crease. Despite losing early wickets, SRH got a good score in the powerplay, only due to the master strokes of Pandey. He, along with Vijay Shankar, kept the scoreboard going for Sunrisers. Within no time, Pandey also completed his half-century. The duo made a partnership of 140 runs and scored 156/2 in just 18.1 overs. Vijay Shankar completed his half-century by hitting a boundary off the last ball.
Scorecard:
Rajasthan Royals: 154/2 (S Samson 36, B Stokes 30, J Holder 3/33)
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 156/2 (M Pandey 83*, V Shankar 52*, J Archer 2/21)