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Visakhapatnam: The Rajasthan Royals stretched their lead at the top of the Pepsi IPL 2015 standings after they defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad by six wickets at the ACA-VDCA Stadium in Visakhapatnam.
Riding on the back of a disciplined bowling effort by their bowlers, RR restricted SRH for 127-5 – the lowest total of the season, and then knocked off the required runs off the final ball of the chase.
Needing to chase at just over a run-a-ball, RR’s opening pair of Ajinkya Rahane and Sanju Samson gave the team a sound start. The pair didn’t take too many chances, but pounced on any freebies that came their way, making sure they put them away to the boundaries. The partnership was culled in the eleventh over – after they had added 64 runs - when young Samson attempted to run a Ravi Bopara delivery down to thirdman, but was brilliantly caught by a full-stretched Naman Ojha diving to his right.
RR skipper Steve Smith had a rare poor day with the bat, driving a wide half-volley from Karn Sharma to his opposite number stationed at cover. Karun Nair chipped one back to Bopara as RR slipped from 64 for no loss to 91 for 3. Rahane made 62 from 55 balls and almost carried his team over the line – in the process bagging the Orange Cap for becoming the leading run-getter, before perishing in the penultimate over.
RR needed 10 from the last eight balls, which came down one off the last ball, before James Faulkner managed to pierce the gap between cover and point, to lead his team to a thrilling – yet comprehensive – win.
Bopara was the most successful bowler for the hosts, returning with figures of 2 for 18 from his four overs, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar was impressive in his four overs, conceding only 25 runs.
Earlier in the evening, the Rajasthan Royals skipper called correctly at the toss and decided to give his bowlers first use of the pitch. Shikhar Dhawan and David Warner got off to starts, but were dismissed for 10 & 21 respectively. While Dhawan chased a wide delivery and edged to the wicket-keeper, Warner set off for a run late and was caught short of his ground by a direct hit from Ajinkya Rahane.
KL Rahul was dismissed immediately after his captain was dismissed as SRH crawled to 35 for 3 when the field restrictions were relaxed. Naman Ojha and Eoin Morgan, who replaced Kane Williamson in the SRH XI, resurrected the innings briefly with a 52-run partnership. Both batsmen struggled to find any kind of momentum, but fought it out, before being dismissed by leg-spinner Pravin Tambe. Ojha made 25 from 32 balls, while Morgan hit two fours and a six in his 30-ball 27.
Ravi Bopara, batting at number six, and Ashish Reddy, batting at seven, gave the innings much needed impetus at the back end. Bopara scored 23 from 19 balls, while Reddy made 13 off 9 balls. There were 62 dot balls in the SRH innings, who finished their allotted 20 overs at 127 for 5.
The Rajasthan Royals bowlers were a disciplined unit. Dhawal Kulkarni was the pick of the lot, finishing with figures of 3-1-9-2, while Tambe bowled out his four overs for returns of 2 for 21. The three overseas pace bowlers – Tim Southee, Chris Morris and James Faulkner – came in for some stick, together conceding 73 runs in their 9 overs.
Brief scores
Sunrisers Hyderabad - 127/5 (Morgan 27, Kulkarni 2-9, Tambe 2-21)
Rajasthan Royals - 131/4 (Rahane 62, Samson 26, Bopara 2-18)
Result - Rajasthan Royals won by 6 wickets
Points - Rajasthan Royals 2, Sunrisers Hyderabad 0
