In the first-look match of Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, the home team bowling attack impressed one and all with a clinical performance on a helpful track. By taking wickets at the regular intervals, Sunrisers Hyderabad did not give any opportunity for Rajasthan to come out strong attacking and stopped them for only 125/9 in their 20 overs. Sanju Samson top-scored the innings with 49 runs.

The beginning was quite modest from the Rajasthan Royals after losing the toss. Royals had chosen the explosive Aussie opener D’Arcy Short to open for them in a bid to have an accelerating start. It was anything but that. D’Arcy started off with a boundary off the second ball he faced of Bhuvneshwar. He was found short of the crease on the last ball of the first over.

The rebuilding process began with Sanju Samson and the captain Ajinkya Rahane. While Samson found the boundary ropes regularly, Rahane was stuck in a rut. He tried getting out of it by hitting out Siddharth Kaul only to find running Rashid Khan take the catch. Rahane got out for a run-a-ball 13.

The hype around the next man walking in was enormous. Ben Stokes with various tags attached to him failed to impress in the brief stint and was caught by Williamson in a stunning manner. He was out for 5(8). The run-flow was abrupted by this development and Royal could never stamp their authority, despite Samson’s 42-ball 49.

The batsmen failed to cope up with the bounce that the Hyderabad pitch offered. Rajasthan was troubled by all the SRH bowlers who ended up with very good bowling figures. No bowler’s economy went beyond 8 and Siddharth Kaul ended up with the best bowling figures of 17/2 in his 4 overs.

Sunrisers Hyderabad now needs 126 runs in 120 balls. With the required run rate almost at par with a run-a-ball requirement, it should be a walk in the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium for Hyderabad.