Hyderabad, May 18 : James Faulkner's second five-wicket haul of the season went in vain as Sunrisers Hyderabad beat spot-fixing embroiled Rajasthan Royals by 23 runs to brighten their chances of booking a play-offs berth in the Pepsi IPL here on friday.
Paceman Faulkner, who became the first bowler in IPL history to grab five wickets twice in a season, helped restrict Sunrisers to 136 for nine but his side failed to chased down the target on a slow pitch at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.
The home side produced a disciplined bowling show to restrict Rajasthan, who were playing their first match after three players were found allegedly involved in IPL spot-fixing scandal that broke out yesterday, to 113 for nine to secure their ninth win.
Amit Mishra returned with impressive figures of two wickets for just eight runs from his four overs. Thisara Perera, Karan Sharma and Dale Steyn also grabbed two wickets each.
For Rajasthan, who were playing their last league match, Kevon Cooper top-scored with 26 while captain Rahul Dravid contributed 25.
With the win today, Sunrisers jumped to fourth spot with 18 points from 15 games. They play their last league match here on May 19 against Kolkata Knight Riders.
Rajasthan, who already have booked a play-offs berth, remained on third with 20 points from 16 matches.
Rajasthan got to a steady start with Dravid and Ajinkya Rahane (12) sharing 39 runs for the opening wicket in 7.3 overs but they struggled after the duo departed in quick succession.
Dravid was out while running for a single of a misfiled by bowler Mishra and Sunrisers captain Cameron White broke the stumps in a flash with the visiting side skipper well short of the crease.
Seven balls later, Rahane departed as he holed out to Shikhar Dhawan at deep cover.
