IPL 2023: From Buttler's blitzkrieg to Chahal's magic - How RR pulled off 'royal' 72-run win over SRH
IPL 2023: On Sunday, Rajasthan Royals handed SunRisers Hyderabad a 72-run defeat in Match 5 in Hyderabad. Knocks from Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler and Sanju Samson, clubbed with Yuzvendra Chahal's effective bowling, resulted in a glorious win for RR.
FollowIt was a top-not show by former champion Rajasthan Royals (RR) in its opening match of the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL). Playing against fellow former champion SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Match 5 of the tournament at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Sunday, it was RR's top-order, aided by intelligent bowling, that resulted in a glorious winning start for the former champion, by 72 runs.
Winning the toss, SRH skipper Bhuvneshwar Kumar surprisingly opted to bowl first, given that it was a day match with a dry atmosphere. The RR openers Yashasvi Jaiswal (54) and Jos Buttler (54) were off to a blistering start, contributing to an 85-run partnership before the latter was cleaned up by pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi in the sixth over of the PowerPlay (PP), falling after scoring his 16th IPL half-century, with 85 runs on the board.
ALSO WATCH: IPL 2023 - Day after KKR's loss to PBKS, injured Shreyas Iyer spotted at Mumbai airport
At the same time, it was RR's best PP total in the competition's history. As skipper Sanju Samson (55) joined Jaiswal, a 54-run stand ensued for the second wicket before the latter fell prey to Farooqi in the 13th. Thereon, RR witnessed three more partnerships of 20-plus runs before it finished on a challenging total of 203/5, with Samson being the fifth wicket to fall in the 19th to pacer T Natarajan.
As for SRH, Farooqi and Natarajan clasped a couple of wickets each, whereas the latter was economical. In reply, SRH was off to an imbalanced start, losing a couple in the opening over to pacer Trent Boult, with no runs on the board. While opener Mayank Agarwal (17) and Harry Brook (13) added 34 for the third wicket, the latter was knocked over by leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal in the seventh.
ALSO READ: IPL 2023 TICKET ADVISORY - NO CAA/NRC PROTEST BANNERS WILL BE ALLOWED DURING MATCHES
Thereon, the SRH batters could barely bat and kept losing wickets regularly. While the stand between Abdul Samad (20*) and Adil Rashid (18) was worth 29 runs for the seventh wicket, it was bettered by the Samad and Umran Malik (19*) duo for 36 for the ninth. SRH was eventually bundled out for 100, with RR winning by a mammoth margin of 72 runs. Chahal claimed four for RR and nailed it with his economy.
