In a huge relief for their fans, Hyderabad ended their five-game losing streak after a seven-wicket victory over Rajasthan at Dubai International Stadium on Monday. The franchise, who suffered a narrow defeat against Punjab on Saturday, chased down 165 with nine balls to spare. Meanwhile, Rajasthan missed an opportunity to climb to playoff places and put pressure on Kolkata, Punjab, and Mumbai. The Jaipur-based team occupies the sixth spot in the points table with four wins from ten matches.
Jason Roy and Kane Williamson played an immense role in Hyderabad’s victory. Both made a fifty and stitched together 57 for the second wicket. However, Rajasthan’s overseas players didn’t live up to the hype. Evin Lewis and Liam Livingstone managed just ten runs between them, while Chris Morris went wicketless and conceded 27 runs off his three overs. Meanwhile, in a second successive game, Sanju Samson’s half-century went in vain.
Chopping & changing
Both teams made plenty of changes to their squad from their respective last fixtures. Hyderabad left out David Warner, Kedar Jadhav, Manish Pandey, and Khaleel Ahmed. Morris and Lewis returned to Rajasthan’s playing 11 in place of Tabraiz Shamsi and David Miller. Also, Jaydev Unadkat replaced injured Kartik Tyagi.
After winning the toss and putting themselves to bat first, Rajasthan saw Lewis depart in the second over. The 29-year-old whipped the ball into the hands of Abdul Samad at deep backward square. The early wicket didn’t slow down the scoring rate as Yashasvi Jaiswal batted at a brisk pace. Samson hit Siddarth Kaul for consecutive fours in the final over of the powerplay, in which Rajasthan managed 49 for the loss of one wicket.
A solid Samson
Williamson brought Rashid Khan into the attack for the first time, and Jaiswal struck a boundary in the last ball of the over. The youngster made room for himself and hammered a six off Sandeep Sharma. But the pacer had his revenge in the next ball. Jaiswal, who came down the track to hit another maximum, saw the ball crash onto the stumps. In a fresh setback, Rajasthan lost Liam Livingstone at the halfway point. The Englishman holed out to Samad at fine leg for 4.
The responsibility of keeping Rajasthan’s innings together fell on Samson again. He and new man Mahipal Lomror kept the scorecard ticking and pounced on the loose deliveries. Lomror took Holder to the cleaners. The duo made 11 off Rashid’s final over as Rajasthan moved to 113/3 in 15 overs. Samson went into attack mode, scoring 20 runs off Kaul. A leading-edge from the Rajasthan captain sailed over the ropes, and he struck the ball over deep midwicket. The Keralite brought up his 15th Indian T20 League fifty in 41 balls.
Rajasthan scored 27 off the next three overs. Kaul removed Samson for 82 and Riyan Parag for a first-ball duck. He gave away only four runs in the last over of the innings. Rajasthan, looking at 175-180 at one stage, had to settle for 164 in their 20 overs. Lomror remained not out on 29 from 28 balls.
Roy brings joy
The quickfire 50-run stand between the new Hyderabad opening pair – Roy and Wriddhiman Saha – set the tone for the run chase. The wicketkeeper-batsman grilled Unadkat in his two overs. At the other end, Roy hammered five boundaries in the space of ten balls. Hyderabad moved to 57/0 after five overs. Lomror made the opening breakthrough in the last over of the powerplay. He removed Saha, who got stumped while trying to slog the spinner.
Roy and Williamson focused on rotating the strike and maintained a steady run rate. The duo slowly shifted the gears. They went after the spinners as Williamson and Roy struck a maximum off Lomror and Rahul Tewatia, respectively. Hyderabad seized control of the match after scoring 21 runs in the third over of Tewatia. Roy reached his half-century, while the required rate came down from 7.5 to 6.
Ever-reliable Williamson
Rajasthan gave its fans a glimmer of hope with the wickets of Roy and Priyam Garg in quick succession. However, Williamson and Abhishek Sharma were solid at the crease. With 22 needed off 18 balls, Abhishek cracked a six off Chetan Sakariya. Williamson smashed back-to-back boundaries to wrap up the chase in the 19th over. The Hyderabad captain also brought up his fifty.
Rajasthan 164/5 in 20 overs (S Samson 82, Y Jaiswal 36; S Kaul 2/36)
Hyderabad 167/3 in 18.3 overs (J Roy 60, K Williamson 51*; M Lomror 1/22)
Parameswaran Sankaranarayanan
Parameswaran Sankaranarayan is a sports enthusiast who has worked in print, website, and other digital platforms. He was part of the editorial team of first-ever Indian football-based website - IndianFootball.com (now defunct) - and passionately follows the latest happenings in world football. During his time as a journalist, he had the opportunity to interact with some of the iconic personalities in Indian sports and witness some memorable moments in Indian football.
Read All Articles >
