IPL 2020: Twitter reacts as SRH steamroll RR to move to 5th on the points table
The Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) coasted to a comfortable 8-wicket win over the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Match 40 of the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2020).
After being put in to bat by David Warner, RR got off to a decent start before Robin Uthappa's enterprising cameo was cut short by an amateurish run out. Ben Stokes struggled to get going, but he and Sanju Samson stitched a meaningful partnership for the 3rd wicket even as they tried unsuccessfully to up the run rate.
Both Samson and Stokes were dismissed in the space of two balls, with their stumps rattled by Vijay Shankar and Rashid Khan respectively. Jos Buttler scored only 9 runs in his 12 balls at the crease, and RR needed quick runs from Riyan Parag and Jofra Archer to get to a defendable total.
Still, with only 154/6 on the board, Steve Smith's men had their task cut out for them. Jofra Archer gave them yet another brilliant start as he got rid of both David Warner and Jonny Bairstow within the first three overs, leaving SRH in a spot of bother.
But a combination of poor bowling from Kartik Tyagi and some brave strokeplay from Manish Pandey ensured that SRH were never behind the 8-ball during their chase. Vijay Shankar ably supported Pandey, as he started off circumspectly but then put away the loose balls to register his first fifty of IPL 2020.
SRH got over the line comfortably in the end, with 11 balls and 8 wickets to spare. Pandey finished on an unbeaten 47-ball 83, while Shankar hit the winning runs to end his innings on 52 off 51 balls.
With the win, SRH moved into 5th place on the IPL 2020 points table. The Orange Army are level on points with RR and KXIP, but have a better net run rate than both teams.
Twitter reacts to IPL 2020, SRH vs RR