Rajasthan Royals beat SunRisers Hyderabad by six wickets in their Indian Premier League match in Visakhapatnam.
Chasing a modest 128 for a win, the table-toppers made heavy weather of the run chase, achieving the target on the last delivery of the match, with James Faulkner (6 not out) hitting the winning boundary off Praveen Kumar.
It was Rajasthan's fourth win in as many matches and keeps them top of the table.
Rajasthan rode on Ajinkya Rahane's fifty, his 14th in the competition, but first this season. In fact, the Hyderabad bowlers did well to take the match to the last ball but Rahane's 56-ball 62 proved to be the difference between the two sides.
Rahane won the man-of-the-match for his effort and also took possession of the orange cap in the bargain.
Earlier, Rajasthan Royals' bowlers put up a clinical show to restrict SunRisers Hyderabad to 127 for five, the lowest team total in the tournament so far.
Backing Steven Smith's decision to field first on a slowish track, Rajasthan bowlers not only picked wickets at regular intervals but also bowled a tight line and length to never allow the Hyderabad batsmen get going.
Hyderabad did not have the best of starts after losing their top four batsmen for just 35 runs.
Opener Shikhar Dhawan was the first to go after being caught behind off Dhawal Kulkarni (2-9) post a scratchy 10-run stay at the crease.
Skipper David Warner (21) was unlucky after Ajinkya Rahane ended the in-form openers blitz in the middle with a direct throw to run him out.
Kulkarni kept the good work going after trapping Lokesh Rahul leg before for two as Hyderabad looked wobbly on their second home ground.
But a 52-run fourth wicket partnership between Naman Ojha (25) and Eoin Morgan (27) did put a stop to the wicket-fall though only for a while.
Hyderabad nearly lost another wicket in the 11th over when Ojha mistimed a pull to be caught by Sanju Samson, but the television replays showed that James Faulkner had bowled a no-ball.
To add to the misery of the bowler, Morgan hit the next ball for a six and also got a boundary in that over. Ojha though was done in by leg-spinner Pravin Tambe (2-21) in the 15th over.
Tambe struck in his very next over, after Morgan (27) was trapped leg before while attempting a reverse sweep.
In the end, Ravi Bopara (23 not out) and Ashish Reddy (11 not out) did try to get maximum hits in the bag but the Rajasthan bowlers did well to allow Hyderabad only 37 runs in the last five overs.
Chasing a small target Rajasthan were off to a steady start, their opening pair of Rahane and Sanju Samson (26) adding 64 runs (off 62 balls).
But come the 11th over and Ravi Bopara was more than lucky as wicketkeeper Ojha came up with a brilliant diving catch to send back Samson back in the dug out to give Hyderabad hope.
The wicket did dry up the flow of runs for the visitors, but the lack of runs on the board helped their cause as Rahane stayed on with skipper Steven Smith (13) to bring them closer to a win.
Smith though was done in by leg-spinner Karn Sharma in the 14th over and Bopara struck for the second time in the very next over to get Karun Nair (1) caught and bowled.
Rahane, whose knock was laced with nine boundaries, couldn't enjoy taking the team to the finish line as Trent Boult got the top-scorer clean bowled in the 19th over.
Needing five to defend of the final 6 deliveries, Kumar bowled well but Faulkner hit the winning four off the final ball. Stuart Binny did well to stay unbeaten on 16.
© 2024 Rediff.com -