Season's 4th consecutive win for Rajasthan RoyalsCricket

April 17, 2015 11:05
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After their bowlers did the job for Rajasthan Royals (RR), the batsmen followed it by building a strong partnership at the top as Ajinkya Rahane smashed half-century to guide the team to their fourth victory from four matches against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) Match 11. Live Blog: Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Rajasthan Royals

Rahane, on his way to his 14th IPL fifty, also became the most run scorer in this year’s IPL. The RR opener scored 62 from 56 balls, which included nine fours. He could not score the winning runs for RR, as he was played down off the bowling of Trent Boult.  Dhawal Kulkarni, Pravin Tambe help Rajasthan Royals restrict Sunrisers Hyderabad to 127/5 in IPL 2015, Match 11

Stuart Binny and James Faulkner were the unbeaten batsmen at the crease in the final over, which turned out to be a thriller. There was a chance of a run out in the last over. Eoin Morgan tried to run out Binny but Ravi Bopara could not gather the ball in time. At one point of time RR needed two runs from two balls. Faulkner smashed four off the last ball as the side needed one run to win.

Rahane and Sanju Samson opened the batting for Rajasthan Royals. Bhuvneshwar Kumar started the proceedings for Sunrisers Hyderabad. Early into the innings, Trent Boult trapped Rahane leg before but the umpire signaled it not out. Boult looked pretty unhappy with the decision as replays showed Rahane out.

Bhuvneshwar and Boult was made to bowl two overs each before David Warner decided to make Bhuvneshwar switch ends, and Praveen Kumar was introduced to the attack. After initially going after the bowlers, the RR batsman went slow in their run chase. Praveen Kumar bowled some good balls, but that also did not stop the steady run chase by the RR batsmen. Luck also favoured Sanju Samson as he played few risky shots.

Rahane  and Samson extended their partnership but soon Samson fell for 26 as Ravi Bopara was introduced to the bowling attack. Naman Ojha took an amazing catch to dismiss the Rajasthan Royals batsman.

Steve Smith was the next batsman to come in to bat. There was a glimpse of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 final rivalry, as Smith went after Boult. However, he did not last long as Karn Sharma removed the batsman. Smith tried to go after the spinner when Warner took the catch at cover. Karun Nair was the next batsman in, however, he also did not last long. Bopara was the best bowler for the Sunrisers Hyderabad. However, that was enough for the SRH side.

Earlier, Rajasthan Royals bowlers restricted Sunrisers Hyderabad to 127 for the loss of five wickets. Dhawal Kulkarni and Pravin Tambe were the two main bowlers as they took two wickets each. SRH were devoid of good partnerships despite Warner and Dhawan looked settled after making a slow start in the beginning. Even Naman Ojha and Eoin Morgan looked to form a partnership, but the duo did not last long.

Rajasthan Royals won the toss and elected to bowl against Sunrisers Hyderabad and sported an unchanged playing eleven. Sunrisers Hyderabad made one change in the playing eleven, as Eoin Morgan replaced Kane Williamson.

Warner and Dhawan opened the innings for Sunrisers Hyderabad. Dhawan was almost dismissed as he edged Tim Southee and the ball landed on Smith’s hand. However, he was lucky as the review showed that Smith did not take the catch clean.

Smith made smart bowling changes as Kulkarni picked up the wicket of Dhawan in his very first over. Warner looked unhappy immediately after the dismissal as he was seen speaking to the umpire. However, later on it was understood that he was unhappy with the music jockey on the ground playing the sound of no-ball despite it wasn’t. Very soon, Warner was run out by Rahane.

Kulkarni returned and trapped KL Rahul for leg before. Sunrisers Hyderabad lost three quick wickets. Eoin Morgan and Naman Ojha, the two new batsmen, took some time and finally decided to go after the bowlers.

James Faulkner was part of some unpleasant decision as Ojha top edged the bowler and the ball landed in Sanju Samson’s hands. Ojha was walking back, when the umpire stopped Ojha to check whether it was a no-ball. When reviewed, the third umpire took more than two-three minutes to review the decision and Ojha was given not out and Faulkner’s delivery was adjudicated as no-ball. Smith looked unhappy and refused to accept the decision.

However, their partnership also did not last long as Smith introduced Pravin Tambe, who removed Ojha for 25. Ojha was bowled by the spinner. Morgan also later on was trapped leg before as the batsman tried to reverse sweep. Morgan scored 27 from 30 balls.

Bopara played some risky shots and with Ashish Reddy the two batsmen tried to hit big, but it was too late for SRH to post a big total.

Brief scores:

Sunrisers Hyderabad 127 for 5 in 20 overs (Naman Ojha 25, Eoin Morgan 27; Dhawal Kulkarni 2 for 9, Pravin Tambe 2 for 21) lost to Rajasthan Royals 131 for 4 in 20 overs (Ajinkya Rahane 62, Sanju Samson 26; Ravi Bopara 2 for 18) by six wickets.

Man of the Match: Ajinkya Rahane.

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