Former champions Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), who were in a desperate need of a win, did get one, as they drubbed fellow former champions Rajasthan Royals (RR). In Match 40 of the 2020 Indian Premier League (IPL), SRH rode to an easy eight-wicket win in Dubai, while they rose to the fifth spot. Meanwhile, some small records were scripted in the process, as we take a look.
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Ben Stokes scripts an unwanted one: RR were desperately hoping for Stokes to join them after he had missed some of their initial matches. However, despite joining late, he has failed to click so far. In five matches, he has not managed to hit a six, while he possesses the lowest strike-rate (106.79) among batsmen, who have faced at least 100 deliveries.
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Jofra Archer hits a unique one: Archer is a renowned English pacer, who has been phenomenal for RR so far, being their highest wicket-taker. However, he has also scripted something unique with the bat, as he has now hit the joint-most sixes this season in the 20th over. He, along with Kieron Pollard, has hit five sixes in the very over.
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A first for SRH: It was the commendable 140-run stand for the third wicket, between Manish Pandey and Vijay Shankar, that allowed SRH to win it easily. While it was the 24th 100-run stand for the side in the tournament to date, it happened to be the first such stand for them involving two Indians. What a wait!
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Slowest for Shankar: Shankar played a patient knock of 52 that came off 51 balls. In the process, it was the slowest half-century by any batsman in the IPL this season, while he became the ninth batsman to score the same in more than 50 balls.
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Match summary: Winning the toss, SRH skipper David Warner, elected to bowl first, as the decision turned out to be the correct one. RR could only manage 1546, courtesy Stokes and Sanju Samson's average innings of 30 and 36, respectively, while Jason Holder claimed 333. In reply, SRH were off to a shaky start, losing their opening two wickets in the powerplay. However, the pair of Pandey and Shankar took control of the innings, as their patient 140-run stand was enough to see them through, by eight wickets.
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