Rashid Khan stars as Sunrisers bounce back in Indian Premier League

Sussex T20 star Rashid Khan’s Sunrisers Hyderabad bounced back from defeat with two victories in the Indian Premier League.
Jofra Archer's birthday is celebrated in the Royals campJofra Archer's birthday is celebrated in the Royals camp
Jofra Archer's birthday is celebrated in the Royals camp

After losing to in controversial fashion to Kolkata Knight Riders, Sunrisers went on to beat Sussex team-mate Jofra Archer’s Rajasthan Royals by five wickets on Friday and the Royal Challengers Bangalore by a comprehensive 118 runs.

The hosts, Rajasthan, won the toss at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium and elected to bat first. England’s Jos Buttler went for five off the bowling of Rashid but fellow opener Ajinkya Rahane (70) and Sanju Samson (102 not out) scored an impressive second-wicket partnership of 119 to leave the Royals on 198-2 at the end of their innings.

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Rashid, named player of the match, bowled 1-24 off his four over spell, which included 10 dot balls.

In the Sunrisers’ reply, an opening partnership of 110 between Australia’s David Warner (69) and England’s Jonny Bairstow (45), put the visitors in prime position to chase down the total.

Vijay Shankar cameoed with 35 off 15 balls and Yusuf Pathan (16*) and Rashid (15*) went on to hit the winning runs with one over to spare. Royals’ Archer took 0-42 from his four overs.

The Sunrisers were dominant in their second game of the week as Bairstow starred with a century. The Yorkshireman’s 114 off 56 balls, along with Warner’s unbeaten 100 off 55 balls guided the hosts to an impressive 231-2 after they lost the toss and the Royal Challengers elected to field first.

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In the Challengers’ reply, Rashid’s fellow countryman Mohammad Nabi made a massive impact with the ball, taking 4-11 including the wickets of openers, Parthiv Patel and West Indian Shimron Hetmyer.

Colin de Grandhomme top scored with 37, but it was not enough as they fell well short of the target, finishing on 113 all out. Khan took 0-25. The Sunrisers sit in second behind unbeaten Chennai Super Kings.

After defeat for the Royals on Friday, they needed to bounce back with a win against the Super Kings in Chennai. The away side won the toss and elected to field first at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. Archer had an amazing spell with the ball as he took 2-17, including a maiden. But player of the match MS Dhoni’s 75 off 46 runs put the hosts on the front foot, giving them the confidence to defend a total of 175-5.

In the Royals’ reply, Rahane (0), Buttler (6), and Samson (8) were sent back to the pavillion within 3.1 overs. Ben Stokes top scored with 46 but it was in vain, as they were eight runs short, leaving the Royals without a win and bottom of the table.

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The Royals need to turn it around quickly if they want to challenge for a play-off position, and will host RCB on Tuesday and the Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday. Meanwhile, the Sunrisers will want to carry on their positive start when they travel to the Delhi Capitals, and host the Mumbai Indians.