SunRisers Hyderabad won the ‘Do or Die’ match against Rajasthan Royals on Thursday at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Trailing the Rajasthan Royals by eight wickets, they have now reached fifth place in the points table and are still in the playoff race.
SunRisers Hyderabad won the toss and offered Rajasthan Royals to bat first. Batting first, RR posted 154 for 6 in the allotted 20 overs where all the batters just displayed an average show. Sanju Samson (36 off 26) and Ben Stokes (30 off 32) got some handful runs for the team while batting.
In the second inning of the match, RR’s key bowler, Jofra Archer had taken two SRH wickets for just 16 runs in three overs, after which Manish Pandey (83* off 47) and Vijay Shankar (52* off 51) both shared an unbeaten 140-run partnership. Vijay Shankar, hitting a four off the first ball of the 19th over, not only completed his half-century but also gave his team victory with 11 balls remaining.
Losing skipper, Steve Smith’s Reaction:
“We started well. Jofra taking two big wickets early but we couldn’t keep the foot on the pedal. Vijay played smart innings and Manish took the game on and played really nicely. I consulted a few other boys, it was talked about (giving Jofra another over upfront) but opted against it and in hindsight, after what happened, probably would’ve given him one moreover. It was on my mind. It (the wicket) got better as the game went on.
“It was slow and stopping in the first innings, it was one of those wickets which were quite hard to start on. We needed some more runs in the first innings. I can’t put my finger on anything, there are plenty of good players and good teams. We haven’t been able to pull back to back wins. We just need to keep winning and don’t know how things will work for us mathematically, we have to keep winning, that’s our job now.”
Winning Skipper, David Warner’s Reaction:
“I think the way we started was fantastic. We were able to bring it back after the powerplay. It’s been a complete game, we have been asking for. Good to see two guys getting the reward for their hard work. I was frustrated. You try hard to get through the first over, but with someone bowling at 150ks, you can’t do much. You can take him on. We saw a lot of dew last night during training, and it came in again. Jason adds strength to our bowling, his experience, he’s an all-round package. He’s a great inclusion. We do have a middle-order, there are always question on it. We haven’t lost early wickets before, so they haven’t got a chance. I have said in the past, we are a better defending team. You have to back yourself, no matter what. This cold weather and dew come in.”
Man of The Match, Manish Pandey’s Reaction:
“There were enough talks around our middle order. High time for us to perform. I just wanted to stay on the wicket and play my shots. Happy that it came off today. We had the opportunity to win the game for SRH, really happy I’m standing here. We had plans to see Jofra off. We had a plan to take on the leggies and Indian bowlers, and it paid off. The first ball I middled through covers and I tried to keep my shape. I was hitting it well and I tried to get my team over the line. Vijay was also long due and he stepped up batting at 4. We are trying to take positives from this match and we’ll try to keep it up for the rest of the tournament.”
