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.

The post Hyderabad beat Rajasthan by 8 wickets appeared first on The Gulf Indians.

Mumbai Indians registered their fourth successive victory in IPL 2020, in Abu Dhabi on October 6 as they inflicted a 57-run defeat on Rajasthan Royals.

MI won the toss and elected to bat. Player of the match Suryakumar Yadav hit an unbeaten 79 off 47 balls to give Mumbai Indians an imposing total of 193/4 in 20 overs. He was ably supported by captain Rohit Sharma (35 off 23 balls) and Hardik Pandya (30 not out off 19 balls).

Chasing the Mumbai total, Rajasthan lost three top-order batsmen in quick succession; while Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sanju Samson were out for a duck on Trent Boult’s fiery bowling, captain Steve Smith was felled by Jasprit Bumrah. Only Jos Buttler (70 off 44 balls) carried the fight for the Royals, slamming five sixes and four boundaries.

Jasprit Bumrah took four wickets while James Pattinson and Trent Boult picked two wickets each. Mumbai, which bowled out RR for 137, were also helped by two sensational catches – of the wickets of Mahipal Lomror and Jofra Archer by substitute Anukul Roy and Kieron Pollard respectively.

Rajasthan Royals which had picked up two wins in the first two games of IPL 2020 lost the next two against Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore. RR’s strength is its top-order and its middle-order appears to be struggling.

RR could gain from the arrival of England all-rounder Ben Stokes, who missed the opening matches of this season because of personal reasons. Stokes reached the UAE on October 4, but did not play in the match against Mumbai Indians owing to COVID-19 protocols. Stokes has to undergo six days of isolation before he can join his Royals teammates on October 11 probably. He has to undergo COVID-19 test on Days 1, 3 and 6, and will be allowed if all the tests are negative.

The post Mumbai wins by 57 runs against Rajasthan appeared first on The Gulf Indians.

Rajasthan Royals registered a comfortable 16-run win over mighty Chennai Super Kings in the Day 4 match in Sharjah on September 22, giving it a fantastic start in IPL 2020.

Batting first, RR was propelled forward by the half centuries of Sanju Samson (74 off 32 balls) and Steve Smith (69 off 47 balls) helping it score 216 for 7 in 20 overs. Samson’s blitzkrieg comprised 9 sixes and a four. For CSK, Sam Curran took 3 wickets yielding 33 runs.

Though Chennai Super Kings began well, it lost openers Shane Watson and Murali Vijay in quick succession to RR spinners – Rahul Tetwatia and Shreyas Gopal – after getting off to a good start. Tetwatia picked up three wickets for RR, and clinched the match for it.

Faf du Plessis hit a 72 off 37 balls but it could not save CSK. Nor could Dhoni hat-trick of sixes in the final over.

The post Rajasthan Royals trounce CSK by 16 runs appeared first on The Gulf Indians.