Ishan Kishan celebrates his century © Sportzpics Sunrisers Hyderabad showcased their batting might once again with new addition Ishan Kishan marking his presence with his maiden IPL hundred. It helped them amass a massive 286 – the second-highest IPL total ever – which proved to be too much for Rajasthan Royals, who put up a brave front in the chase but still fell short by 44 runs. Where was the match won? SRH’s consistency in hitting ability right through simply outshone Rajasthan Royals in the end. While RR too made a valiant effort with the bat in getting to 242 in chase of a mammoth 286, they kept losing wickets at regular intervals which ultimately proved to be a momentum-breaker. Unlike SRH they lacked a decisive and high partnership upfront and were left to play catch-up in an already daunting chase right through. Sunrisers Hyderabad Powerplay – Power and intent overloaded Phase score: 94/1 [RR: 15.61, 4s/6s: 15/3] Sunrisers Hyderabad have made a name for bossing the PowerPlay right through the previous season where they twice went past 100 in this phase. Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma were at it once again today once Rajasthan Royals opted to bowl. They had started with some experienced heads in their overseas specialists. But all of Fazalhaq Farooqi, Maheesh Theekshana and Jofra Archer were shown no mercy whatsoever. Every attempt was to hit a boundary inside the PowerPlay and most of it came off. Sharma fell showing similar intent slapping a short ball from Theekshana to cover but Head continued from where they had left off, as did Ishan Kishan. The resultant score of 94 on a flat Hyderabad pitch was mind-boggling but not surprising given the intent shown every ball. Middle overs – No let-up Phase score: 104/2 [RR: 11.55., 4s/6s: 11/5] While Head brought up his fifty off just 21 balls, SRH simply moved from strength to strength. Ishan Kishan, making his debut for SRH, fitted right into the role as a middle-order enforcer. Head raced away to 67 off 31 before he was out hitting Tushar Deshpande to mid-off. But Nitish Reddy and Kishan continued the onslaught, albeit in relatively slow fashion. SRH still managed to got at over 10 an over but it still was slower than how they had started off. Ishan was brutal against Jofra Archer, hitting him for three sixes in an over and brought up an electric half-century in the process. The 72-run stand with Reddy, coming in just 29 balls, ended when the right-hander holed out to deep mid-wicket. Nevertheless, SRH had a neat base set up getting to 208 by the 15th over mark. Death overs – Ishan slams ton as SRH get second highest IPL total Phase score: 78/3 [RR: 15.6, 4s/6s: 9/4] They fell just one run short of equalling their own record of 287 in the IPL, but SRH nevertheless made a statement and a half with a mammoth total in their opening game of the season. Making a statement of his own was Kishan who brought up his century in style. Archer ended up with the most expensive figures in IPL history conceding 76 in his four overs as SRH ended with a flourish. It was the fourth time that SRH went past the 250-run mark in IPL history and all of it has come in just the last two seasons. It also underscored a rather sorry state of attack that the Royals brought in with no bowler able to exert any pressure whatsover on the opposition. Rajasthan Royals Powerplay – Power on but with fluctuations Phase score: 77/3 [RR 12.83, 4s/6s: 11/3] Like SRH, Rajasthan too had no choice but to come out swinging from ball one, which they did. But unlike SRH, their intent was met with some despair at the front-end. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Riyan Parag both fell trying to force the pace against a sharp Simarjeet Singh in the second over. Similarly Nitish Rana got a leading edge off Mohammed Shami leaving RR three down inside the PowerPlay. However, that did not bring down the intent of Sanju Samson or Dhruv Jurel. The former played some impressive strokes through the offside against Shami while Jurel launched a stunning onslaught to welcome Pat Cummins into the attack. The final over of the PowerPlay, bowled by Cummins, went for 20 with Jurel accounting for 19 of those impressing with the timing he showcased. Middle overs – Onslaught nipped in the bud Phase Score: 92/2 [RR 10.22, 4s/6s: 4/8] What looked like a chase spiralling down suddenly took an upward turn as both Samson and Jurel kept the strokeplay coming in the middle overs as well. Jurel upped the ante with three sixes off Simarjeet which also brought up a 28-ball fifty for him. Samson had already got his off just 26 balls a little while earlier. The duo shared a 111-run stand which turned the tide once again and even raising Rajasthan’s hopes a trifle through the middle overs. But just as they were readying to take it into the end, both fell in quick succession. Samson top-edged a loft off Harshal while Jurel holed out in the deep denting the chase back once again. Death overs – RR finish with vigour but its not enough Phase Score: 73/1 [RR 14.6, 4s/6s: 2/7] With some momentum robbed losing both set batters, Rajasthan were always going to be up against it. But the batters that followed also never stepped off from the accelerator. Shubham Dubey and Shimron Hetmyer helped Rajasthan coast past the 200-run mark. They put on 80 in quick time before Hetmyer was dismissed in the final over. With the Net Run-Rate always a huge factor in qualification, the runs at the back-end might not have been enough for RR to get over the line today but they’d be hopeful that they can build on the confidence gained from their batting show even as the bowling had been a let-down. Brief scores: Sunrisers Hyderabad286/6 (Ishan Kishan 106*, Travis Head 67) beat Rajasthan Royals 242/6 (Dhruv Jurel 70. Sanju Samson 66) by 44 runs What’s next? Rajasthan Royals will travel to Guwahati to host Kolkata Knight Riders on March 26 while Sunrisers Hyderabad host Lucknow Super Giants on the following day.
