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IPL 2021: Jason Roy lands with a bang, takes SRH to win over RR
Hits 60 in first game for Sunrisers Hyderabad after replacing the off-colour David Warner as his team wins by seven wickets in Dubai
With nothing to play for in this edition after eight defeats in their first nine games, Sunrisers Hyderabad used Monday’s game against Rajasthan Royals to experiment with the line-up. They made four changes to their eleven after the disastrous last game against Punjab Kings, the biggest call being the dropping of David Warner. The tough decisions proved to be spot on as the new-look SRH fought well together to clinch their second win of 2021 IPL in Dubai.
It was Warner’s replacement Jason Roy who provided the spark for their chase of Royals’ total of 164 with a 42-ball 60. Captain Kane Williamson saw the team through with an unbeaten 51 off 41 balls.
After the defeat, Rajasthan Royals were left to rue a great opportunity lost to break into the top four. Heading into the game, they were locked at eight points with Kolkata Knight Riders, Punjab Kings and Mumbai Indians. A win would have taken them to the fourth spot.
The most disappointed would be their captain Sanju Samson, who saw another of his fine efforts go in vain. His blazing 57-ball 82 had helped Royals reach a competitive total of 164/5. A small consolation for him is that during the course of the innings, he leapfrogged Delhi Capitals opener Shikhar Dhawan to become the highest run-getter of this IPL with an aggregate of 433 runs, three runs ahead of the left-hander.
Having scored an unbeaten 70 in the last game versus Delhi Capitals, the RR captain averages 54.12, but a lack of support from his line-up has hurt his side. Against SRH, Samson had only two sizeable partnerships, first of 56 runs with opener Yashasvi Jaiswal (36- 23b) and the second of 84 with Mahipal Lomror (28*-29b). As usual, he took his time at the start before going hard, smashing seven fours and three sixes.
SRH pulled things back in the final two overs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Siddharth Kaul conceded just seven and four runs in the 19th and 20th over respectively.
During their chase, SRH fully capitalised on the powerplay overs. Having powered to 63/1 in six overs, the run-rate pressure was neutralised, leaving them to get 102 off 84 balls. When Roy finally fell at the total of 114/2 in 12 overs, SRH were left to get 51 off 48 balls. It was less than run-a-ball when Abhishek Sharma swung Chetan Sakaraiya for a six off the first ball of the 18th over. Williamson finished off the innings with nine balls to spare.
