The Rajasthan Royals ran out of beginners luck after making a comeback into the IPL. Ajinkya Rahane lost the toss and from there on, everything went with his opposite number- Kane Williamson.
Putting into bat first, the Royals never got going. They lost their latest recruit D’Arcy Short in the power play. Short was run-out, courtesy a brilliant throw by Williamson. wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson threatened to take the game away from the hosts.
Samson made 49 off 42 balls, and his innings included five boundaries. To Royals’ disappointment, Samson found no support from the other end as the side lost their next four wickets under 40 runs.
Kaul, Shakib step on the gas
Pacer Siddarth Kaul and Shakib-Al-Hasan put a stop to the scoring. Whereas, at the other end, Rashid Khan kept mixing up his deliveries and ended up picking the big scalp of Jos Buttler.
The visitors could only post 125 for nine in their 20 overs. Kaul and Shakib shared two wickets each.
But the entertainment has been provided by Shikhar Dhawan. Having got a life early in the innings, Dhawan went on to score a quickfire fifty and fittingly hit the winning runs.
The left-hander Dhawan made unbeaten 77 off 57 balls and found his skipper’s support from the other end.
Williamson played a gritty knock of 36 off 35, and never looked out of touch. The likes of Manish Pandey and Yusuf Pathan were restricted to being mere spectators as the Sunrisers clinched a win by 9 wickets.
Losing skipper Rahane said they should have scored 30 odd runs more. He also lauded the bowlers’ effort for putting their best.
“We thought 125 was on the lower side. 150 or 160 would have been great. Credit to our bowlers, they bowled well, they tried their best. We were 50 for 1 and me and Sanju decided to back our intents, but we lost too many wickets.” he said.
Ajinkya Rahane looks at the positives:
He also pointed the lack of partnerships while batting. On a positive note, the skipper said they look to get better in the coming games.
“We didn’t get any partnerships. I’m unhappy with the drop but these things happen in cricket. This is the first game and we need to learn from our mistakes and move forward. We prepared ourselves really well and we’re looking to get better.” Rahane added.
Also here’s the newsfeed:
IPL 2018: No Doubt We Missed David Warner – Kane Williamson
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