Ajinkya Rahane scored a patient fifty to lead Rajasthan Royals to a close six-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad to extend their unbeaten run in the 2015 Indian Premier League to four games at Visakhapatnam on Thursday.
Chasing a modest target of 128, Rajasthan finished with 131/4 in 20 overs to record their fourth win of the season.
Rajasthan were off to a solid start with the opening pair of Ajinkya Rahane and Sanju Samson adding 64 runs in 10.2 overs. Ravi Bopara broke the stand with the wicket of Samson who was out caught behind after scoring 26.
Next man Rajasthan skipper Steven Smith managed only 13 before being caught by his SRH counterpart David Warner off Karn Sharma.
However, Rahane continued scoring 62 with the help of nine boundaries before becoming Bopara's second victim. In the end, some late strikes and tight bowling by the SRH bowlers pushed the game to the final over.
The visitors needed one off the final delivery and James Faulkner hit a boundary off it to seal the deal.
Earlier, Rajasthan 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, RR bowlers not only picked wickets at regular intervals but also bowled a tight line and length to never allow the SRH batsmen get going.
SRH did not have the best of starts after losing their top four batsmen for just 35 runs 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.
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.
Pravin Tambe of Rajasthan Royals appeals successfully for lbw to dismiss Eoin Morgan of Sunrisers Hyderabad
Skipper David Warner (21) was unlucky after 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 lbw for two as SRH looked wobbly on their second home ground.
SRH nearly lost another wicket in the 11th over when Ojha mistimed a pull to be caught by Sanju Samson, but the TV replays showed that James Faulkner had bowled a no-ball.
To add to the misery of the bowler, Ojha hit the next ball for a six and also got a boundary in that over. Ojha, though, was done in by legspinner Pravin Tambe (2/21) in the 15th over.
Tambe struck in his very next over, after Morgan was trapped lbw 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 RR bowlers did well to allow SRH only 37 runs in the last five overs.
- Manohar
