Dubai: Rahul Tewatia’s (45 n o, 28b 4×4, 2×6) uncanny ability to win tricky games rescued Rajasthan Royals (RR) yet again as they eked out a five-wicket victory against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) to snap their four-match losing streak in IPL-13, here Sunday.
Tewatia became a household name with five sixes in an over off KXIP’s Sheldon Cottrell. Even though, he did not show the same firepower Sunday, he did enough to see RR home with a ball to spare.
Tewatia came to the crease when RR were tottering at 78 for five in the 12th over. He and Riyan Parag (42 n o, 26b, 2×4, 2×6) had an unbroken stand of 85 runs to see their team home.
With two needed off two balls, Parag hit Khaleel Ahmed (2/37) for a six over extra cover and broke into an impromptu ‘Bihu jig’. It was indeed a tremendous effort keeping in the mind that their more illustrious teammates had failed.
Tewatia brought back memories of the Sharjah night but this time it was Rashid Khan (2/25) who was at receiving end in the 18th over as the left-hander struck three consecutive boundaries. With 22 needed off two overs, Tewatia launched into T Natarajan, who lost his length trying to bowl yorkers, for a four and a six over short fine leg that swung the match in favour of Royals.
Earlier the likes of Ben Stokes and skipper Steve Smith, both failed to get among runs. And when Jos Buttler (16) and Sanju Samson (26) also failed to revive the innings all hopes seemed lost for RR. But then Tewatia and Parag did the trick for the Royals.
Earlier, Manish Pandey (54, 44b, 2×4, 3×6) struck an impressive half century but RR restricted SRH to 158 for 4 in 20 overs.
It was a difficult to bat on with the pitch getting slower by the over. However, Pandey in association with skipper David Warner (48, 38b, 3×4, 2×6) put on 73 runs for the second wicket to put up a good platform for SRH. However, the others failed to utilise the situation. In the end Kiwi Kane Williamson 22 n o, 12b, 2×6) played a quickfire knock, but that did not prove to be useful at the end.
It was one of the better days for Jaydev Unadkat (1/31) as his variation of slower deliveries caused some trouble for the batsmen with only 26 runs coming off the Power play. In all, Rajasthan bowlers managed 42 dot balls, which is seven overs without a run being scored.
Brief scores: SRH 158 8 for 4 (Manish Pandey 54, David Warner 48) lost to RR 163 for 5 in 19.5 overs (Rahul Tewatia 45 n o, Riyag Paran 42 n o, Rashid Khan 2/25, Khalil Ahmed 2/77) by five wickets.
