Fast bowler Umran Malik opened his account in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) with his typical thunderbolt delivery during Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) ‘s opening clash against Rajasthan Royals (RR) at Rajeev Gandhi International Stadium on Sunday.
Malik cleaned up Devdutt Padikkal with a fiery ball that gained maximum eyeballs. It all happened in the 15th over when Malik delivered a 149kmph delivery that kept low from a good length. The white leather had a low trajectory, skidded off the surface, and managed to uproot the off-stump of Padikkal after successfully evading the batsman’s defence.
Here is the video:
.@umran_malik_01 doing Umran Malik things! 👍
Relive how he picked his first wicket of the #TATAIPL 2023 👇#SRHvRR | @SunRisers pic.twitter.com/QD0MoeW1vF
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 2, 2023
Malik, who is recognised for his ferocious pace, had a successful year in 2022, where he picked up 22 wickets in 14 games for the team. As a result, he was selected to represent India for the first time after the season, when the team resumed play.
Speaking about the game, Sunrisers opted to bowl, but the decision of skipper Bhuvneshwar Kumar went horribly wrong as Rajasthan ended up scoring 203/5 in their allotted 20 overs. The likes of Yashashvi Jaiswal (54 off 37), Jos Buttler (54 off 22) and Sanju Samson (55 off 32) all smashed their respective half-centuries to help their team post a mammoth total.
In response, the Sunrisers just couldn’t get going and only managed to reach 131/8, losing the contest by a huge margin of 72 runs. Abdul Samad, with an unbeaten 32, was their highest scorer. Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal was the pick of the bowlers for the Royals, picking up four wickets for just 17 runs in his quota of 4 overs.
“Definitely the start we wanted. The way Jos and Jaiswal batted, we knew a big score will always be difficult to score. The plan was to bowl stump to stump, tossing it up is my strength. I’m not too bothered about who I’m bowling to. Definitely you’ll see a big celebration when I get a five wicket haul,” said Chahal after the game.
