Our correspondent
An unbeaten innings by Manish Pandey and Vijay Shankar helped Sunrisers Hyderabad register an eight-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals in the October 22 match in Dubai.
SRH won the toss and elected to field first. West Indies Test captain Jason Holder registered his best IPL bowling figures – 3/33 – to restrict Rajasthan Royals to 154 for 6 in 20 overs.
Playing his first match of the season, Holder dismissed Sanju Samson (36) and then skipper Steve Smith (19) and Riyan Parag (20) on consecutive deliveries. He also got Robin Uthappa (19) run out in the fourth over. From 74 for one after 10 overs, Royals slumped to a total that was about 15-20 runs short.
Pursuing a 155-run target, Pandey (83* off 47 balls, four fours, eight sixes) and Vijay Shankar (52*, four fours) stitched a 140-run third wicket partnership to cross the total with 11 balls to spare. Shankar’s bowling was top class too, yielding just 15 runs in his three overs and grabbing the wicket of Jos Buttler (9). Rashid Khan (1/20) took the wicket of Ben Stokes (30).
Sunrisers had a disastrous start with Jofra Archer felling openers David Warner (4) and Jonny Bairstow (10). Hyderabad was down 16 for two in two overs till the rescue act came from Pandey and Shankar.
