IPL 2021, SRH vs RR: Hyderabad gets rid of inconsistent Rajasthan to stay in playoffs contention

Sunrisers Hyderabad managed to tame Rajasthan Royals by seven wickets in the IPL 2021 clash in Dubai. As a result, SRH is still in contention for the playoffs.

It was a matured performance from former champion Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), as it outlasted fellow former champion Rajasthan Royals (RR) by seven wickets in Match 40 of the Indian PremierLeague (IPL) 2021 at the Dubai International Stadium on Monday. With this win, SRH continues to remain in contention for the playoffs.

Winning the toss, RR skipper Sanju Samson elected to bat, as he made three changes. As for SRH, Kane Williamson, too, made four changes to the side in a desperate need for a win.

RR was off to a shaky start, losing Evin Lewis (6) to seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the second over, with just 11 runs on the board. Nevertheless, a 56-run stand for the second wicket between Yashasvi Jaiswal (36) and Samson (82) followed before the former departed to pacer Sandeep Sharma in the ninth.

At the same time, Liam Livingstone (4) fell to leg-spinner Rashid Khan just ten runs later in 11th. However, there was a commendable 84-run stand between Samson and Mahipal Lomror (29*) that just dismantled SRH's bowling attack, while the former had scored his 15th IPL half-century during this time.

In the final over, Samson and Riyan Parag (0) departed quickly to pacer Siddharth Kaul, as RR finished on a part total of 164/5. SRH utilised six bowlers, with Kaul attaining the most success, while pacer Jason Holder was the most economical of all.

As for the chase, SRH was off to an explosive start, with openers Jason Roy (60) and Wriddhiman Saha (18) contributing to a 57-run opening stand before the latter was stumped off spinner Lomror in the sixth over. However, it was followed by an impressive 57-run stand between Roy and Williamson (51*) that pushed RR onto the backfoot.

At 114, in the 12th over, Roy fell to pacer Chetan Sakariya, followed by Priyam Garg (0) to speedster Mustafizur Rahman in the following over, just five runs later. However, it was too late and the pair of Williamson and Abhishek Sharma (21*) did it for SRH by seven wickets, while the former also brought up his 16th IPL half-century in the process.

As for RR, it put six bowlers at it. Although Rahman, Lomror and Sakariya were the ones to attain success, Lomror had the best economy.
Brief scores: RR 164/5 (Jaiswal- 36, Samson- 82; Kaul- 2/36) lost to SRH 167/3 in 18.3 overs (Roy- 60, Williamson- 51; Lomror- 1/22) by seven wickets.