Rajasthan Royals. (Photo Source: BCCI/IPL)
The runner-ups of IPL 2022, Rajasthan Royals, started their campaign in 2023 with an emphatic win over Sunrisers Hyderabad at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.
After being put in to bat first, Rajasthan Royals destroyed SRH’s bowling right from the start and put on 203/5 in their allotted 20 overs, courtesy of half-centuries from Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Sanju Samson. T Natarajan was the pick of the bowlers for Hyderabad who picked up 2/23 in three overs while Fazalhaq Farooqi also picked up two wickets.
In reply, Hyderabad succumbed to the huge scoreboard pressure and were behind in the race right from the word go. Their innings could never get going with Rajasthan’s bowlers coming at them one by one. The Bhuvneshwar Kumar-led side could only reach 131/8 in their allotted 20 overs as Rajasthan won the game by 72 runs. As RR got their tournament off to a great start, let’s take a look at the talking points from the match:
1 Joss Buttler’s quick-fire fifty
The swashbuckling opener got his 2023 campaign off to a brilliant start as he scored a sensational 54 off 22 balls and gave a fiery start to his side. He brought his half-century in just 20 balls as he carried his form from the last edition of the tournament. Buttler’s form is a great sign for Rajasthan going ahead in the tournament as they will once again rely on him to do the bulk of the scoring.
2 Yuzvendra Chahal’s 4-fer
The spinner has been performing exceptionally in IPL since 2019 and has once again started the tournament on a positive note with a four-wicket haul in the opening game. He picked up the crucial wickets of Mayank Agarwal and Harry Brook to stamp his authority on SRH. Having Chahal in form is another positive for Rajasthan going ahead.
Losing Captain, Bhuvneshwar Kumar said:
100 per cent we can say that, let’s forget and move on, the way we pulled back in the last 6 overs and Umran’s cameo at the end. We did not bowl pretty well, first match of the season and a lot to improve. South Africans are coming back and we definitely will be a much better batting side, we have to move forward from this game. It was a pretty good track, we can prepare what we want but we are not worried about that.
Winning Captain, Sanju Samson said:
Was wondering how we’ll start this season, very happy with this. Having batters like Buttler and Jaiswal, the mindset with which they play the powerplay we can expect such starts. We are a very good side, but you know this format. So we need to keep our heads down. Today was a very good start but we are looking at finishing things well. For me, today I wanted to stay there and finish the innings. We will find out if there are any weaknesses as the tournament goes on (chuckles).
Jos Buttler, Player of the Match (54 off 22 balls) said:
Fantastic start. We had a really good last season but this is a great marker for this time, we start fresh. I plan a bit but react on the day, assess the conditions and try and put pressure on the bowlers. Enjoying my cricket at the moment, playing with a clear mind.