Dubai: Manish Pandey (83 n o, 47b, 4×4, 8×6), Vijay Shankar (52 n o, 51b, 6×4) and Jason Holder (3/33) were the standout performers for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) as they completely outclassed Rajasthan Royals (RR) in their must-win IPL encounter here, Thursday.
Chasing 155, SRH clinched a comprehensive eight-wicket victory with 11 balls to spare. It was after the exploits of Holder, who was playing his first game this season, restricted RR to 154/6.
In reply, SRH began their chase in an unexpected manner losing both their openers – skipper David Warner (4) and Jonny Bairstow (10) – inside three overs to be reduced to 16/2. Jofra Archer (2/21) took both the wickets with gem of deliveries.
Then it was all Pandey and Shankar as the duo put together an unbroken 140-run stand for the third wicket. Pandey took the onus to attack to keep the required rate within reach, while Shankar played second fiddle to Pandey.
Earlier, Holder led a disciplined bowling display by SRH to restrict RR to 154/6. Sunrisers, who are struggling at the penultimate spot in the points table with only three wins from nine outings, opted to bowl after winning the toss.
Playing his first match of the tournament, Holder came up with an impressive bowling effort while also affecting a run out to destabilise the RR innings. Rashid Khan (1/20) and Shankar (1/15) picked a wicket each. For RR, Sanju Samson (36) was the top scorer.
Among others, Ben Stokes (30), Riyan Parag (20), Robin Uthappa (19) and skipper Steve Smith (19) got starts but failed to convert them into big scores. Archer (16 n o) played a cameo in the death overs to help RR go past 150-run mark.
Brief scores: RR 154/6 (Sanju Samson 36, Ben Stokes 30; Jason Holder 3/33) lost to SRH 156/2 (Manish Pandey 83 n o, Vijay Shankar 52 n o; Jofra Archer 2/21) by 8 wickets.
