“Massive wicket!” screamed the big screen, and it indeed was, for Rajasthan Royals’ allrounder Shane Watson had just been dismissed by Sunrisers Hyderabad allrounder Thisara Perera in a chase of 137.
It proved a crucial blow as till that point, the Royals were at a relatively comfortable position at 61/3. They then added 52 runs to finish at 113/9, giving the Sunrisers a 23-run victory — and more importantly, shored up their chances of making the playoffs — at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium here on Friday night.
The win takes Hyderabad to the fourth spot.
The Sunrisers have time and again shown they are past masters at defending low totals, especially in home conditions, and Friday’s match was no different. A regulation unremarkable batting, after winning the toss, performance meant they put up 136/9 on the board after electing to bat.
Their magnificent bowling attack then swung into action, squeezing the Royals till they popped. Amit Mishra was especially effective, giving away only eight runs from his four overs in exchange for two wickets.
Dale Steyn (2/22), Perera (2/25) and Karan Sharma (2/33) all played key roles in the win.
Earlier, the Royals, stunned by the arrest of their three players in the spot-fixing controversy came out determined to salvage their pride. With their bowlers keeping it tight, they restricted the Eagles to a moderate total.
James Faulkner was the star for the visitors, bagging a fantastic five-wicket haul, giving away a measly 16 runs off his quota of four overs. He led the charge as the Royals put up a lion-hearted show on the field. Shane Watson and Siddharth Trivedi took one wicket apiece. The Sunrisers elected to bat after but their top-order immediately broke in the face of a furious charge by the Rajasthan cavalry in the form of Faulkner and Watson. Faulkner accounted for openers Parthiv Patel and Shikhar Dhawan in his very first over, while Watson dismissed Eagles skipper Cameron White.
Patel chopped the ball onto his stumps while Dhawan slashed at the ball only for it to be plucked out of the air by a leaping Ajinkya Rahane at point. White, meanwhile, pulled a rising delivery into the hands of Trivedi at fine leg.
By then, however, the Royals seemed to have dissipated most of their initial burst of energy and things soon settled into a rhythm.
Hanuma Vihari, who had come in at three, and no.5 Biplab Samantray, ensured they weathered the storm through a 44-run partnership, but they took 47 deliveries in doing so. It ended when Vihari, after collecting 19 runs off 27 deliveries, tried to flick Trivedi off his pads but the ball went high into the air off the leading edge which was taken safely by Sachin Baby.
That brought the West Indies all-rounder Darren Sammy out into the middle and he managed to increase the tempo, relatively, by scoring a 19-ball 23. Sammy — who hit a six and a four — was caught by Brad Hodge when he tried to go over the top off Faulkner, giving him both his third wicket and the purple cap.
Meanwhile, at the other end, Samantray had dropped anchor, scoring a 55 off 46 deliveries — his first half-century of the season.