Early dominance in both innings from Rajasthan Royals saw them cruise to a comfortable 72-run triumph over Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sunday to open their IPL campaign with a win.
Runners-up last season, Rajasthan had strong performances from Jos Buttler with the bat and Trent Boult with the ball to thank as they overwhelmed their opponents.
Hyderabad won the toss and put the Royals in to bat first, a decision that proved to be a poor one as openers Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal smashed a team record of 85 runs in the powerplay, with the former reaching his half-century off just 20 balls before he was cleaned up by Fazalhaq Farooqi.
Though the Royals’ run rate slowed following Buttler’s dismissal for 54, Jaiswal (54) and captain Sanju Samson (55) both reached half-centuries while Shimron Hetmyer added 22 in an important cameo as Rajasthan set Hyderabad a target of 204.
The Sunrisers’ chase faltered almost immediately, Boult removing Abhishek Sharma and Rahul Tripathi in the opening over without a run on the board before danger man Harry Brook saw his first IPL innings ended with just 13 from 21 deliveries when he was bowled by Yuzvendra Chahal.
Wickets continued to tumble as Chahal impressed, taking 4-17 to eradicate any chances of a miraculous Hyderabad chase and see his team to an emphatic victory.
Royals’ top order set unassailable target
Despite taking just 43 runs off the final five overs, Rajasthan’s top order had already put them in good stead, recording the fifth most powerplay runs in IPL history.
Their top three batsmen all reached 50 as Buttler and Jaiswal piled on the runs early before a captain’s innings from Samson helped the Royals set a target that Hyderabad never looked like knocking off.
Boult blitz stamps out Hyderabad’s hopes
Any chance of a successful Sunrisers’ run chase was essentially stamped out within the first over as a double-wicket maiden from Boult had them staring down the barrel of defeat.
Rajasthan opted to use Boult’s pace early and often, the New Zealander bowling three of the first five overs, conceding just eight runs in that spell before eventually finishing with figures of 2-21.
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