Sanju Samson's blazing half-century and fiery spells from Trent Boult and Prasidh Krishna, guided Rajasthan Royals to a 68-run victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad in Match 5 of Indian Premier League 2022, at MCA Stadium in Pune.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar's disciplined effort accounted for little as Rajasthan Royals rode on a 73-run stand between Devdutt Padikkal and Samson, followed by an explosive cameo from Shimron Hetmyer, to post 210 in the first innings.
Samson's clinical power-hitting, with his impeccable back-foot game, smothered any hope of revival for the Sunrisers after they sent Royals' openers back in quick succession. Samson hit five towering sixes to affirm the hype around him. If he continues to maintain the consistency this season, the national team will have to make way for him in Australia later this year.
The promises brought upon by the new season did not materialise for the Sunrisers. While the tournament has just started and they may get better with time, the manner of the defeat was eerily similar to last season. However, it should be mentioned that had luck favoured them in the opening overs, they might have been in a much better position.
Rajasthan Royals 210/6 in 20 overs
In an eventful start to the game, Bhuvneshwar Kumar moved the ball both ways and made Jos Buttler look totally clueless. The first time Buttler managed to feel the ball was an outside edge that went to first slip. Buttler survived, for Bhuvneshwar had overstepped, a mistake he repeated in his next over. No-balls plagued Hyderabad throughout the innings as both Umran Malik and Washington Sundar overstepping in their respective first overs.
Despite the first three overs yielding just 13, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Buttler took the score to 58 by the end of the Powerplay. Buttler compensated for his slow start with a flurry of boundaries in Malik's first over. He welcomed Malik with a four, followed it with a clean six over the wicketkeeper, and finished the over with an uppercut over third man to fetch 21 of the over. Both openers then hit a six each in the next over to take 18 off Sundar's over.
The first-wicket stand of 58 runs came to an end when Jaiswal holed out to Aiden Markram while trying to clear the mid-wicket fence. Malik beat Buttler with the pace to reduce Rajasthan to 75/2.
There was a lot of talk about how Rajasthan will accommodate Devdutt Padikkal in their batting line-up. Having never batted as lowly as No. 4, all eyes were on Padikkal. He was not at ease in his first 10 balls, particularly against some short-pitched balls from Romario Shepherd. But that changed soon, as he nailed a swivel pull and hammered an overpitched ball down the ground. Padikkal then smashed two fours and a six off Shepherd.
At the other end, Samson kept striking at the same note and tempo, dispatching anything marginally short, particularly dished by Sundar, over the stands. He hit two successive sixes off Sundar to reach his fifty before being finally undone in the next over by Bhuvneshwar. Shimron Hetmyer then showed his exceptional hitting range and scored 32 in 13 balls to take Rajasthan to 210/6.
Sunrisers Hyderabad 149/7 in 20 overs
As with the first innings, with a lot of movement and bounce on offer, it was not easy for the batters to get going from the start, especially against Trent Boult who relishes such conditions. Boult came close on a couple of occasions, but it was Prasidh Krishna who broke open the game with his double-blow.
Williamson somehow survived Boult's over, but the pressure of playing too many dot balls eventually got the better of him. While attempting to guide a back of length delivery from Krishna towards square, he edged behind the stumps for Padikkal to take a great catch after the ball bounced off Samson's gloves.
Prasidh soon got Rahul Tripathi, who, unable to ride on the bounce, holed out to Samson. Boult then trapped Nicholas Pooran leg-before to bury the contest even before it started. By the end of the sixth over, Sunrisers Hyderabad were hobbling on 14/3, the joint-lowest Powerplay score in the history of the tournament.
Since that point, the Sunrisers batters focused on salvaging some net run rate. Towards the end, Sundar struck five fours and two sixes in his 14-ball 40, while Markram got to his fifty in the last over and remained unbeaten on 57.
Rajasthan Royals 210/6 in 20 overs (Sanju Samson 55; Umran Malik 2-39) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad 149/7 in 20 overs (Aiden Markram 57*; Yuzvendra Chahal 3-22) by 61 runs. Player of the Match: Sanju Samson