Yuzvendra Chahal. (Photo Source: Twitter)
The 52nd game of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 featured a thrilling clash between the inaugural champions Rajasthan Royals and the Aiden Markram-led Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Sunday, May 7.
Batting first, Rajasthan posted 214 runs on the board in the first innings, thanks to fabulous knocks by Sanju Samson and Jos Buttler, however, Sunrisers Hyderabad replied in the same manner. Brilliant knocks by the top order and a late blitzkrieg by Glenn Phillips propelled Hyderabad to their fourth win of the season.
During the run chase, Yuzvendra Chahal was the highest wicket-taker for Rajasthan as the 32-year-old took four wickets and conceded 29 runs in four overs. His brilliant spell saw him join former Chennai Super Kings all-rounder Dwayne Bravo as the joint-highest wicket-taker in the history of the IPL.
With 183 wickets in 142 games in the IPL, Chahal claimed the number one spot on the list of the highest wicket-takers in the tournament. Sharing the spot with Bravo, the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin, Piyush Chawla, and Amit Mishra also feature in the top five.
With 17 wickets in 11 matches at the IPL 2023 so far, Chahal sits in fifth place in the IPL purple cap race. Winning the highest wicket-taker award in 2022, Chahal would be keen on continuing upon his sensational performances in the ongoing season as well.
Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Rajasthan Royals by four wickets
Coming in to chase the mammoth target of 215 runs, Hyderabad got off to a great start as Anmolpreet Singh and Abhishek Sharma scored 33 and 55 runs, respectively. Furthermore, Rahul Tripathi amassed 47 runs in 29 deliveries as well.
Requiring 41 runs in the last two overs, Glenn Phillips hit Kuldip Yadav for three consecutive sixes in the first three balls of the 19th over. Furthermore, when Sandeep Sharma won the game for Rajasthan off the last delivery, it was deemed a no-ball, and Hyderabad capitalized on the free hit, winning the game by four wickets.