Sunrisers steamroll Royals as Praful Hinge relishes dream IPL debut

Sunrisers Hyderabad dominated the Rajasthan Royals, eventually beating them by a 57-run margin at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in an Indian Premier League encounter on Monday.

What looked like a formidable RR top order collapsed like a pack of cards as SRH debutant Praful Hinge stepped up to send batting prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavasnhi, Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag and Lhuan-dre Pretorius back to the dugout.

The RR middle order mustered the courage to stay in the contest, but a rather wet-behind-the-ears SRH bowling unit delivered the goods in front of a home crowd.

Ravindra Jadeja and Donovan Ferreira did make amends to a run chase that derailed early, but SRH bowlers – spearheaded by 24-year-old Hinge – had the last laugh.

How the SRH innings shaped up

Earlier, in the first innings, a fiery 91 by Ishan Kishan and cameos from Heinrich Klaasen and Nitish Kumar Reddy helped SRH reach 216/6 in 20 overs. Being put to bat first, SRH was off to a nightmarish start, as Abhishek Sharma once again fell for a golden duck while going big against a Jofra Archer short delivery. SRH ended their powerplay at 51/1 in six overs, with Head (16*) and Ishan (35*) unbeaten.

Head's inconsistent run in the competition continued, losing his shape against Riyan Parag and handing a catch to Donovan Ferreira at long-on, dismissed for a run-a-ball 18. SRH was 55/2 in 6.5 overs.

Ishan and Heinrich Klaasen continued to collect runs undeterred, hitting a six each against Ravi Bishnoi in the 10th over, taking SRH to 89/2 in 10 overs, with Kishan (56*) and Klaasen (14*) unbeaten. Ishan reached his second fifty of the season in 30 balls, with two fours and five sixes.
In the 11th over, Tushar Despande was taken to cleaners by Ishan, being hit for three fours and a six by Ishan. SRH brought up their 100-run mark in 10.3 overs. The duo had brought up their 50-run stand in 24 balls.
Klaasen also picked up, scoring a six against Bishnoi and getting a boundary against Archer, who was taken down for 17 runs in the 13th over, with Ishan hitting him for a hat-trick of fours.

It was Sandeep Sharma who broke the 88-run stand by pulling off a stunning caught-and-bowled dismissal of Kishan for a 44-ball 91, with eight fours and six sixes. SRH were 154/3 in 13.2 overs.

Klaasen soon followed Ishan, as he could not get the elevation on a lofted shot, caught by Parag at extra-cover for a 26-ball 40, with a four and three sixes. Deshpande got his first wicket, leaving SRH at 162/4 in 15.5 overs.
After this, Sandeep Sharma was taken down for 24 runs in the 17th over, with three sixes by Nitish Kumar Reddy and a four by Salil Arora.

Archer ended the brief 33-run stand, removing Nitish (28 in 13 balls, with four sixes). SRH were 195/5 in 18.3 overs. Jofra was smacked for a huge six at the end of the over by Salil, bringing the 200-run mark in 19 overs.
Aniket Verma was run out at the fourth ball of the inning for just six runs. SRH were 209/6 in 19.4 overs. SRH ended at 216/6, with Salil (24* in 13 balls, with two fours and two sixes) and Harsh Dubey (0*) unbeaten.
Archer (2/37) was the pick of the bowlers for RR. Deshpande, Sandeep and Riyan also got one each.

(With inputs from ANI)