IPL 2018, Match 4: Sunrisers Hyderabad beat Rajasthan Royals

Opener Shikhar Dhawan (77*) and captain Kane Williamson (36*) knitted an unbeaten 120-run stand for the second-wicket to power Sunrisers Hyderabad to an emphatic nine-wicket win against Rajasthan Royals in the IPL 2018 Match 4 on Monday.

After being dropped on 0 by opposition captain, Shikhar Dhawan went on to make the most of his chance by scoring a match-winning knock of 77 runs (not out).

Earlier, Sunrisers Hyderabad restricted Rajasthan Royals to 125/9 in their innings. Apart from Sanju Samson (49) no other batsmen rose to the occasion and were dismissed one by one. For Hyderabad, pacer Sidharth Kaul and spinner Shakib al Hasan took two wickets each while Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Billy Stanlake and Rashid Khan chipped in one wicket each.

Put in to bat, Rajasthan got off to a poor start as opener D Arcy Short (4) was departed on the last ball of the the first over. But after that wicket, new batsman Sanju Samson (49) and opener Ajinkya Rahane (13) forged a crucial 46-run partnership to steady their team's ship. Just when things seemed good in the middle, Rahane was dismissed in the seventh over by Sidharth Kaul.

Unperturbed by the fall of skipper's wicket, Samson played freely, smashing the bad balls. Middle-order batsmen Ben Stokes (5), Rahul Tripathi (17) failed to utilise the start and were dismissed cheaply in the process. While trying to increase the run-rate, Samson was also dismissed. spinner Shakib Al Hasan dismissed Samson in the 14th over.