The Sunrisers Hyderabad middle order finally stepped their game up in the return fixture against Rajasthan Royals as Manish Pandey and Vijay Shankar slammed fifties to setup an eight-wicket victory in Dubai.
Pandey and Shankar were unbeaten on 83 and 52 respectively, the unbroken third wicket stand between them worth 140 as the Sunrisers chased the 155-run target set by the Royals with relative ease after losing two early wickets.
Hyderabad captain David Warner earlier put Steve Smith’s men in to bat after winning the toss, and the Royals could never quite take off after reaching 74/1 at the halfway mark, finishing on 154/6. Jason Holder, playing his first game of the season after coming in place of the injured Kane Williamson, finished as the pick of the bowlers with 3/33.
Sunrisers, in reply, lost openers Warner and Jonny Bairstow early, both falling victim to Jofra Archer’s fiery pace. Smith however, took Archer off after a two-over spell, and the other Rajasthan bowlers weren’t quite able to maintain the pressure on Pandey and Shankar the way Archer did, allowing the game to slip away from their grasp.
Orange cap: KL Rahul (KXIP), 540 runs
Purple cap: Kagiso Rabada (DC), 21 wickets
