Manish Pandey and Vijay Shankar starred with the bat as Sunrisers Hyderabad trump Rajasthan Royals at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Steve Smith & Co posted 154 runs batting first as Hyderabad sailed past the target with 11 balls to spare.
Defending a short total, Jofra Archer steamed in and put Rajasthan Royals on top. At one point, Sunrisers Hyderabad were at 16 for two in 2.4 overs striving another defeat. But Manish Pandey and Vijay Shankar shared a match-winning partnership to take their side home.
Rajasthan in all sorts of difficulty after Hyderabad drubbing
They added 140 runs for the third wicket to sail past the target as Steve Smith ran out of ideas. This defeat with put Rajasthan Royals in a difficult position in the race for the IPL 2020 playoff spot.
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Earlier in the day, Ben Stokes opened alongside Robin Uthappa but never got going. He tried everything but he couldn’t hit the middle of the bat. Sunrisers Hyderabad meanwhile took pace off, bowled tight lines and put pressure on batsmen. Jason Holder ran Uthappa out, strangled Steve Smith and Riyan Parag with cutters to make it a sensational comeback into the side replacing the injured Kane Williamson.
Should have given Archer the third over – Steve Smith
Vijay Shankar was really good with his slower balls too, got the big wicket of Buttler. With Rashid squeezing the middle overs, RR found it really tough. However, a late surge from Jofra Arche helped Rajasthan Royals to finish on a high posting 154 runs on the board.
Speaking at the end of the game, Steve Smith rued not bowling Jofra Archer for the third consecutive over. The other bowlers failed to make a mark as Sunrisers Hyderabad walked away with the game.
“I thought we started really well. Jofra obviously taking the tow big wickets early. But we couldn’t keep the foot on the pedal. The wicket got better. There was a fair bit of dew on for some reason. The third over for Jofra was on my mind, discussed it with a couple of guys. In hindsight, yeah, should have bowled a third straight over,” Steve Smith said.
Steve Smith also credited Vijay Shankar and Manish Pandey for putting up a brilliant show and taking the game away. Sunrisers Hyderabad will hope these two to continue delivering the goods in the remainder of IPL 2020.
“Vijay played smart innings and Manish took the game on and played really nicely,” Smith added.
