Allround performance by Sunrisers Hyderabad helped them beat Rajasthan Royals in the fourth match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018.
Chasing a low total of 126, Shikhar Dhawan scored a solid fifty as SRH registered their first win of this year’s IPL with 25 balls to spare.
Dhawan along with Wriddhiman Saha opened the batting for SRH but the latter fell cheaply in the second over after scoring just five runs. But from there on Dhawan played a solid knock and along with skipper Kane Williamson steadied the ship.
The duo quickly brought up the fifty-run stand between them in the sixth over with bulk of scoring been done by the southpaw. Soon Dhawan brought up his fifty off just 33 balls.
The Kiwi-Indian pair continued to entertain the crowd with great batting and SRH soon brought up the 100 in just 12 overs. Dhawan remained unbeaten on 77 from 57 deliveries while Williamson was not out on 36 from 35 balls. The duo was involved in an unbeaten 121-run stand.
Earlier, SRH bowlers bowled a disciplined line and length as they restricted visitors to just 125/9. Sanju Samson was the only batsman who played a solid knock of 49 but apart from that none of the batsman rose to the occasion.
Here’s how Twitter reacted to SRH win over RR:
When you are defending a small total a captain’s skill of using the bowlers, comes into play. It will be interesting to see how @rajasthanroyals handle the situation. As of now @SunRisers are the favourites. #SRHvRR #VivoIPL2018
— Pragyan Ojha (@pragyanojha) April 9, 2018
Could not have asked for a better start to our IPL campaign. All the bowlers bowled brilliantly, maintaining the pressure throughout. It was a delight to watch @SDhawan25 go about the chase fearlessly with the calm & cool head of Kane. Hope to continue with the momentum #SRHvRR
— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) April 9, 2018
Desperately one-sided I'm afraid! Who would have imagined it would be so #SRHvRR
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) April 9, 2018
IPL 2008: Rajasthan Royals lost their first game by 9 wickets to home team DD (in the 16th over)
RR went on to become IPL champions in 2008
IPL 2018: Rajasthan Royals lost their first game by 9 wickets to home team SRH (in the 16th over)
Will RR become champs in 2018?#SRHvRR— Sarang Bhalerao (@bhaleraosarang) April 9, 2018
77* is Shikhar Dhawan's highest score when chasing in IPL.
Prev highest: 73* v MI in 2013. #SRHvRR #IPL2018
— Bharath Seervi (@SeerviBharath) April 9, 2018
I just feel @rajasthanroyals need to figure out where each batsmen bat and where they are most comfortable. Currently 5 of their top 6 can open and have opened a lot before. #firstmatchproblems
— Gaurav Sundararaman (@gaurav_sundar) April 9, 2018
As good as the bowlers were for Hyderabad ( all 5 bowled brilliantly), Shikhar Dhawan being in that kind of form will be very heartening for them in Warner's absence. RR need to forget this soon and move on #SRHvRR
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) April 9, 2018
A 121-run partnership between @SDhawan25 & Kane Williamson and a comfortable victory for @SunRisers.
They beat #RR by 9 wickets #SRHvRR in match 4 of VIVO #IPL. pic.twitter.com/O51JUXeCMm
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 9, 2018
Kiraaak performance by SRH.RR will have to do lot of thinking going forward in this tournament @StarSportsIndia @IPL #vivoipl
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) April 9, 2018
Well done @sidkaul22 top spell @SDhawan25 top batting my brothers🏏 @IPL @SunRisers vs @rajasthanroyals welcome back in IPL
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) April 9, 2018
Rajasthan Royals bought the top two expensive players in 2018 IPL auction and lost the opening game by 9 wickets…
— Broken Cricket (@BrokenCricket) April 9, 2018
First time in #IPL history, the 1st four games of the season were won by the sides batting 2nd
In 2016: first three games won by sides batting 2nd#SRHvRR#IPL2018— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) April 9, 2018
SunRisers thrash Royals by one strategic time out.
— Saurabh Malhotra (@MalhotraSaurabh) April 9, 2018
Hyderabad fans will be delighted but match too one-sided after Rajasthan failed to break the Shikhar-Williamson partnership early #IPL2018
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) April 9, 2018
So, it's four out of four for chasing teams this season. I am afraid if any team will look to bat first this season on most grounds. #SRHvRR
— Umang Pabari (@UPStatsman) April 9, 2018
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