Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Rajasthan Royals
Indian Premier League franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sunday shared pictures of their first win from the 2019 season where they had defeated a Rajasthan Royals in their second match of the season. SRH recollected the match as India is in a 21-day coronavirus lockdown that had put uncertainty over the start of the 13th season of the IPL.
Played at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, the home ground for the Hyderabad-based franchise, the visiting captain Ajinkya Rahane opted to bat first after winning the toss. Rajasthan made a steady start after the early loss of Joss Buttler with the captain and Sanju Samson stitching a sensational 134-run partnership for the second wicket. While Rahane added 70 runs to the partnership, Samson notched up 102 runs in the match. Rajasthan ended with 198 runs for the loss of just two wickets.
SRH began the chase on a promising note with the opening pair of David Warner and Jonny Bairstow adding 110 runs to the board. While Warner scored 69, Bairstow managed 45. The middle-order faltered significantly with Vijay Shankar left with no assistance en route to his 15-ball 35 before Rashid Khan came to the rescue. The Afghanistan cricketer fired a six and a four to score 15 off eight balls and guided SRH to a five-wicket win with six balls to spare.
SRH shared pictures from the match with the caption, "#OnThisDay last year...#Throwback to our first win in #IPL2019 vs RR! #OTD #OrangeArmy | @davidwarner31 @rashidkhan_19"
Rashid was named the Man of the Match for his all-round performance. "I just try my best to be positive every game, in every department. I think that was the plan [to Buttler] as I've got him early previously. So I just bowled in good areas and saw how it goes. I just tried my best to mix up my five legspinners. I realised it wasn't a wicket where there'll be too much turn. Yes, [I have] five different legspins, with different actions and grip," he had said after the win.
