Our Correspondents
Rajasthan Royals won against Sunrisers Hyderabad by five wickets in an exciting match in Dubai on October 11. Royals now have three wins from their seven matches.
The first game of the day saw an 85-run sixth wicket partnership between Riyan Parag and Rahul Tewatia that clinched the match for RR. Parag took 42 off 26 balls played the winning shot – a six with one ball remaining – while Tewatia who smashed 45 off 28 balls won the man of the match award. Tewatia turned the match in Rajasthan’s favour by hitting Rashid Khan for three successive fours in the 18th over. They finished the game with a score of 163/5.
Chasing 159 on a slow wicket, Royals did not seem to have much chance after they lost Ben Stokes, Steve Smith and Jos Buttler with just 26 runs on the board. It then recovered from 78-5 to chase down Hyderabad’s 158-4 claiming victory from the jaws of defeat.
Parag, 18, who hails from Assam, celebrated with an impromptu ‘bihu’ jig as he hit the winning shot. Bihu is a traditional dance from Assam.
RR had made three changes to their playing XI – Ben Stokes, Riyan Parag and Robin Uthappa replaced Andrew Tye, Yashashwi Jaiswal and Mahipal Lomror. Sanju Samson playing his 100th IPL match scored 26 off 25 balls and took a brilliant catch.
Earlier, Sunrisers had won the toss and decided to bat. Captain David Warner scored 48 off 38 balls. Manish Pandey was the top-scorer with 54 off 44 deliveries, which was his 17th half century in IPL. Kane Williamson remained unbeaten on 22.
