Sanju Samson's hundred in vain as Sunrisers Hyderabad achieve highest successful chase in their IPL history

Sanju Samson's 102, his second in the Indian Premier League had helped the Rajasthan Royals notch up 198/2. However, David Warner had some other plans and he laid the platform with a blazing 69 off 37 balls. He was well backed-up by Jonny Bairstow and Vijay Shankar and the equation boiled down to the penultimate over when Rashid Khan's six off Jofra Archer helped Sunrisers Hyderabad not only register a five-wicket win at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad on Friday, but it was their highest successful chase in the history of the IPL. It was a superb display of batsmanship on display from Sanju Samson, David Warner and it ended with a special helicopter shot from Rashid Khan as the chase got a bit cheeky.

Ajinkya Rahane chose to bat on wicket where high scores were not too regular. But Rajasthan Royals put up a mammoth total on the board. The side lost the wicket of Jos Buttler early in the innings and it took a special partnership from Samson and Rahane to steady the ship. Samson and Rahane joined strung a wonderful partnership of 119 runs together as Samson played the aggressor. With ten fours and four sixes in his innings, the 24-year-old amassed 102 runs in just 55 balls.

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Rahane also played a sensational innings, registering his 27^th IPL fifty. However, Rahane's knock was ended by a great effort by Manish Pandey to fall for 70. Post this, Samson along with Stokes went berserk and hammered Hyderabad bowlers’ all-around the ground. Stokes scored 16 off 9 deliveries, eventually helping the side to put mammoth 198 runs on the board.

In the chase, Sunrisers Hyderabad did what not many thought they wouldn’t be able to. Both David Warner and Jonny Bairstow hit some quick runs to start the proceedings, putting Rajasthan Royals on the back foot early in the chase innings. The 110-run opening partnership in just 9.4 overs made Rajasthan Royals’ total ‘not so competitive’.

Ben Stokes provided the much-needed breakthrough, sending David Warner back to the pavilion. His counterpart, Jonny Bairstow followed Warner in just the next over which gave Rajasthan Royals some hope.

However, the second wicket triggered a collapse as the Sunrisers lost three more wickets in six deliveries with the victory in sight. While Jaydev Unadkat snaffled Kane Williamson, Gopal sent back Manish Pandey and Vijay Shankar. However, it was the duo of Yusuf Pathan and Rashid Khan who kept their cool and finished the chase in the penultimate over to get Sunrisers Hyderabad off the mark in IPL 2019.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Sanju Samson registered his second IPL hundred. 
• Sunrisers Hyderabad wins their first encounter of the season. 
• Kane Williamson missed his first game of the tournament.