SRH vs RR IPL’2023

SRH vs RR IPL 2023: Chahal’s four-wicket haul helps Rajasthan to easy 72-run win vs Sunrisers

SRH vs RR IPL 2023 Highlights: Rajasthan Royals began their IPL 2023 campaign with a 72-run victory vs Sunrisers Hyderabad, at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad, on Sunday. Chasing a target of 204 runs, SRH were restricted to 131/8 in 20 overs, with Yuzvendra Chahal taking four wickets. Initially RR posted 203/5 in 20 overs, with Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler and Sanju Samson bagging half-centuries respectively. Jaiswal smacked 54 tuns off 37 balls, with Buttler slamming 54 off 22 deliveries. Meanwhile, Samson clattered 55 off 32 deliveries. Fazalhaq Farooqi and T Natarajan were in good bowling form and bagged two wickets each for SRH.

That’s all from Hyderabad. Once again a sense of deja vu as Rajasthan thump SRH with last season’s heroes Buttler, Samson, Chahal, Boult all performing. A reality check for this SRH side which was looking really good on paper. Well, the good news is their South African trio will arrive soon. For now, time to switch tabs to the MI game where Reece Topley has just castled Cam Green. See you there…

Jos Buttler | Player of the Match: Fantastic start. We had a really good last season but this is a great marker for this time, we start fresh. I plan a bit but react on the day, assess the conditions and try and put pressure on the bowlers. Enjoying my cricket at the moment, playing with a clear mind.

Sanju Samson | RR captain: Was wondering how we’ll start this season, very happy with this. Having batters like Buttler and Jaiswal, the mindset with which they play the powerplay we can expect such starts. We are a very good side, but you know this format. So we need to keep our heads down. Today was a very good start but we are looking at finishing things well. For me, today I wanted to stay there and finish the innings. We will find out if there are any weaknesses as the tournament goes on (chuckles).

Yuzi Chahal: Definitely the start we wanted. The way Jos and Jaiswal batted, we knew a big score will always be difficult to score. The plan was to bowl stump to stump, tossing it up is my strength. I’m not too bothered about who I’m bowling to. Definitely you’ll see a big celebration when I get a five wicket haul.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar | SRH captain: 100 per cent we can say that, let’s forget and move on, the way we pulled back in the last 6 overs and Umran’s cameo at the end. We did not bowl pretty well, first match of the season and a lot to improve. South Africans are coming back and we definitely will be a much better batting side, we have to move forward from this game. It was a pretty good track, we can prepare what we want but we are not worried about that.

For Rajasthan, as perfect a game as they could have had. Their openers got runs as Buttler and Jaiswal started off from where they left last season. Samson got his customary good start to the IPL. Trent Boult picked powerplay wickets, Yuzi Chahal got a four-fer and Ravi Ashwin bowled economically. Their debutant Jason Holder had a good game with the bowl and in the field, and wasn’t needed to bat. They even got their rookie bowler KM Asif to bowl out without much pressure, and got a returning Navdeep Saini to get some game practice. Onto the presentations now…

 IPL cricket returned to Hyderabad after four years, the stadium was filled with orange but the colour began to fade as the game started, with a few pink and purple hues emerging. A case of Murphy’s law for Sunrisers, who were given a drubbing by the Rajasthan openers as they conceded their highest powerplay tally. Samson got a fifty as well, as RR finished with a solid first innings score. In reply, SRH were given a ‘Boult from the pink’ as their in-form batters Rahul Tripathi and Abhishek Sharma fell for ducks. Harry Brook had a forgettable IPL debut as well, as the spinners began their stranglehold. Mayank Agarwal showed some promise but perished against Chahal, and the rest of the middle-order failed to contribute much. It took a few late tonks from the impact player Abdul Samad and Umran Malik to get SRH to a respectable total, while even crossing 100 looked a challenge at one point.