Hello and welcome to Sportstar's live updates from the Indian Premier League (IPL 2019) clash between Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium.
Sanju Samson seals a comprehensive seven-wicket win with a boundary. An all-round performance from the host side sees it trump Sunrisers Hyderabad to keep its playoff hopes alive. Livingstone and Rahane got Rajasthan off to a flying start before Smith and Samson took the team closer with a sturdy partnership in the middle overs. In the end, it was all too easy for Rajasthan.
◘ Ashton Turner joins Samson in the middle. He finally gets off the mark in the IPL. Bhuvi to bowl out. He concedes just four to finish with 4-0-22-0. Rajasthan needs 9 runs in 12 balls. Siddarth Kaul bowls out; five off his last. Rajasthan Royals needs four to win off the last over.
◘ Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowls a tight third over for just five runs. Rajasthan now need a run a ball to get to the target. Khaleel Ahmed is back into the attack. Samson has pulled a short-of-a-length ball for four. Terrific innings from Samson so far. 50-run stand up between Smith and Samson. Smith joins the fun with yet another four. Smith holes out immediately after. Rajasthan Royals 148/3 after 17 overs.
◘ Steve Smith works a boundary off his hips and Rajasthan is in a very strong position, needing just 30 runs to win from 5 overs. Rajasthan Royals 132/2 after 15 overs.
◘ WICKET! Rahane's gone as well. He lifts Shakib al Hasan over long-off but can't clear David Warner at the ropes. Rahane goes for 39 off 34 balls. Rajasthan Royals 93/2 after 11.3 overs.
◘ WICKET! Liam Livingstone falls after giving the Royals a terrific start. Rashid Khan bowls a quicker one on off stump and Livingstone gets an inside edge to the keeper. Just the breakthrough Sunrisers Hyderabad needed. Rajasthan Royals 78/1 after 10 overs.
◘ Play breaks for a strategic timeout and Sunrisers Hyderabad needs this time to regroup, especially when a pumped-up Liam Livingstone looks set to finish it off quickly. After a slow start, he's now on 43 off 23 balls. Rajasthan Royals 74/0 after 8 overs.
◘ Rahane and Livingstone hit Rashid Khan for a six each in the fourth over. Williamson may not have seen expecting his star bowler to go for so many runs in his first over. Khaleel Ahmed was able to restrict scoring for a while until Rahane's outside edge took the ball to the boundary on the last ball. Siddarth Kaul took a thrashing from Livingstone in the sixth over, going for 18 runs. Kaul was Hyderabad's fifth bowler in the powerplay. Sunrisers look desperate for a breakthrough. Rajasthan Royals 60/0 at the end of 6 overs.
◘ Rahane was able to get just a boundary from Bhuvi's first over. Kane Williamson brought on left-arm spinner Shakib al Hasan into the attack in the second over. Bhuvi's second over went for 10 runs, Rahane scoring two more boundaries. Rajasthan Royals 18/0 after 3 overs.
◘ Ajinkya Rahane and Liam Livingstone open the innings for Rajasthan Royals. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, expectedly, starts with the new ball for Sunrisers.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hyderabad slipped from 103/2 to 160/8, losing four wickets for 34 in the last four overs. Manish Pandey's 61 has taken Sunrisers Hyderabad to 160/8. Aaron, Thomas, Gopal and Unadkat took two wickets each. Rajasthan Royals needs 161 to win.
◘ Unadkat to bowl out. Shakib is out caught and Hyderabad is seven down. Bhuvneshwar Kumar is the new man in. Rashid and Bhuvi will be eyeing a total close to 160 here. Five runs off his last. 4-0-26-2 for Unadkat. Aaron to bowl the final over. Four byes; much needed runs these for Hyderabad. Aaron removes Bhuvneshwar for his second wicket. This has been an unbelievable collapse. Siddarth Kaul is the next man in. A quick brace from Rashid takes Hyderabad to 150. He follows it up with a boundary and a six.
Last 4 overs, 25 runs, Hyderabad has lost 5 wickets!
◘ Varun Aaron is back into the attack and nearly gets rid of Shankar; an outside edge evades the stretched hands of Samson. Shakib-Al-Hasan is the new man at the crease. Aaron strikes as Shankar holes out to a fine catch from Unadkat. Five off it and a wicket. Unadkat is back into the attack and almost has Shakib caught but for Aaron's drop. New batsman Deepak Hooda offers an opportunity and Unadkat obliges. Sunrisers middle-order unravelling. Wriddhiman Saha comes to the crease. Five runs off the over. Thomas to bowl out. Saha is dropped by Gopal but is out caught behind the very next ball. Thomas gets his second wicket. Six off it. SRH 137/6 after 18 overs.
◘ Gopal to bowl is third over. Four off the first three balls. Seven off it in the end. Unadkat is back into the attack. Seven runs coming off the over. Stuart Binny to roll his arm; starts off with a wide. Class! Terrific straight-drive that from Pandey. Pandey brings up his fifty with a single. 10 off it. Smith pulls off a blinder to remove Warner. Hyderabad loses a wicket against the run of play. Thomas with the breakthrough. Vijay Shankar is the new man in. Excellent over that. Four runs and a wicket. Parag to bowl his third. Just six coming off it. Gopal to bowl out. Pandey takes on state team-mate Gopal, gets a boundary. GONE! Sanju Samson's presence of mind has cost Pandey his wicket; he is stumped for 61. SRH 121/3 after 15 overs.
◘ Riyan Parag, right-arm leg break, comes into the attack. Six singles off as many balls. Meanwhile, Hyderabad has gone the 50-run mark. Gopal to continue. Pandey cuts him for four more. Runs are starting to flow for the visiting side. And another one, this time to deep square leg. 10 off the over. Parag to continue. Pandey is upping the ante, launches Parag over long-off for four before hammering another one through deep mid-wicket. 12 coming off it in the end. SRH 79/1 after 9 overs. The duo has added 50 for the second wicket.
◘ Leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal has been introduced into the attack. Warner takes a single and gets off strike. Gopal strikes! Kane Williamson is undone by the googly.Manish Pandey is the new man in , gets a four to end the over. Five off it in the end. Jaydev Unadkat has been brought into the attack. Pulled away for four by Pandey who is looking in fine touch, already. Nine coming off the over. Thomas returns for his second over. Warner takes three off the first ball. BRILLIANT RUNNING. Pandey gets another four. 10 off it. SRH 51/1 after 6 overs.
◘ Warner gets off the mark... well, would've been just a single, but he gets five overthrows instead. Beats Kane Williamson with an indipper off the next ball. Wraps up the over by conceding three off the last ball. Oshane Thomas to share the new ball; gives away 10 off his first over. Aaron to continue. Williamson gets a brace before carving a boundary. Plenty of misfield from Rajasthan so far. Warner takes a single off the last ball. SRH 27/0 after 3 overs.
Kane Williamson and David Warner to open for Hyderabad. Varun Aaron with the new ball.
-----------------------------------------------------------
TOSS UPDATE: Steve Smith has won the toss and Rajasthan will bowl.
Rajasthan Royals (Playing XI): Ajinkya Rahane, Sanju Samson(w), Steven Smith(c), Riyan Parag, Ashton Turner, Liam Livingstone, Stuart Binny, Shreyas Gopal, Jaydev Unadkat, Varun Aaron, Oshane Thomas
Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI): David Warner, Kane Williamson(c), Manish Pandey, Vijay Shankar, Shakib Al Hasan, Wriddhiman Saha(w), Deepak Hooda, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddarth Kaul, K Khaleel Ahmed
Liam Livingston and Ashton Turner come in for for Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer. Kane Williamson and Wriddhiman Saha are back for Sunrisers.
Nobody from Assam has played for the senior Indian cricket team yet. Riyan Parag dreams of being the first| Riyan Parag hopes to be first international cricketer from Assam
Tom Moody believes the exit of England players from both Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals — due to World Cup preparations — will be a great opportunity for the fringe players to showcase their skills| Foreigners' exodus opportunity for fringe players
The BCCI has recommended India pacers Mohammad Shami and Jasprit Bumrah, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and women’s team player Poonam Yadav for the Arjuna award | Bumrah, Shami, Jadeja and Poonam Yadav recommended for Arjuna award
READ: IPL 2019: Riyan Parag special helps Rajasthan beat Kolkata
FOLLOW: 2019 IPL FULL COVERAGE
READ| IPL 2019 points table: Team standings and rankings
Rajasthan Royals has stepped up its performances in the last two outings and will be keen to notch another win under its belt to brighten its chances of a Playoff place in IPL 2019.
Our reporter P.K. AJITH KUMAR 's preview may give you a clear picture:
On Thursday night at the Eden Gardens, Varun Aaron was the star with the ball and Riyan Parag with the bat for Rajasthan Royals. Neither was in the scheme of things for the Royals in the early stages of this IPL.
Their match-winning performances – the two have so far played just six matches between them -- could not have come at a better time for Steve Smith’s men, who have to rebuild the side following Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes’ return to England. They now take on Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium on Saturday.
READ | Riyan Parag dazzles in Rajasthan's win
Only two points separate the two teams. A win could brighten the outside chances of a Playoff for the home side, placed second from the bottom.
For that, the Royals need to find a way to overcome the absence of Archer, one of the key men in its campaign. He spearheaded the bowling with aplomb and is more than a handy bat down the order, as he showed against Kolkata Knight Riders the other night.
The pace of Aaron and Oshane Thomas could make up for Archer’s absence to a certain extent. The leg-spin of Shreyas Gopal could play a crucial role yet again.
The batsmen have responded rather well to the early departure of the explosive opener Jos Buttler. Ajinkya Rahane, Smith, Sanju Samson and Parag have all found form.
It would be interesting to see how Sunrisers copes with the splitting up of one of the best opening partnerships of the tournament. David Warner and Jonny Bairstow have added 791 runs from 10 innings and had three successive century stands between them.
WATCH | RR vs SRH - VIDEO PREVIEW
SRH has to find a replacement for Bairstow, who has gone back to England, at the top of the order and someone to keep wicket as well.
The visitor will, of course, be looking mainly to Warner for the runs. The dynamic Aussie holds the orange cap with 574 runs (average 71.75, strike rate 146.05). Manish Pandey has finally regained his touch, too.
As for its bowling, SRH has one of the better attacks in the competition featuring the likes of Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed and Sandeep Sharma.
It ought to be an intriguing contest.
The match will be streamed live on Hotstar.
Comments
SHARE