IPL 2018: SRH comprehensively beat Rajasthan by 9 wickets; Dhawan scores 77

Ajinkya Rahane will be leading Rajasthan Royals in Smith's absence, while Kane Williamson will captain the Sunrisers Hyderabad after David Warner withdrew from IPL 2018

Sunrisers Hyderabad won the toss and decided to bowl first against Rajasthan Royals, in the fourth match of IPL 2018.
Rajasthan Royals will be is being led by Ajnkya Rahane, while Sunrisers Hyderabad is being led by Kane Williamson. 

End of the match

Sunrisers Hyderabad comprehensively beat Rajasthan Royals by 9 wickets in the fourth match of IPL 2018. Chasing a below par total of 126, SRH never looked in one bit of trouble. Shikhar Dhawan led the charge with a magnificent fifty and was well supported by Kane Williamson on the other end. SRh won with 4 overs to spare. Dhawan scored 77 runs.


After 10 overs: Sunrisers Hyderabad

Shikhar Dhawan scored a 50 and was well supported by captain Kane Williamson from the other end. Both the players looked very comfortable against RR bowlers as they hit them all over the park. With required run rate falling below five, SRH was poised for a comfortable win. SRh was at 89-1 after 10 overs.  


Story till Powerplay: Sunrisers Hyderabad

Chasing a below par total of 126, Sunrisers Hyderabad had a shaky start. Ajinkya Rahane dropped a dolly in the slips of Shikhar Dhawan. But Saha played a lofted shot and was caught by Laughlin off Unadkat's bowling. But Dhawan took full advantage of the powerplay and made 32 runs smashing 5 fours and a six. SRH was 57-1 after 6 overs.

End of Innings: Rajasthan Royals

Rajasthan Royals choked to 125/9 in 20 overs. Sanju Samson top-scored with 49. Siddarth Kaul scalped two wickets for 17 runs. Wickets kept falling at regular intervals.

After 13.5 overs, strategic timeout: Rajasthan Royals

After Stokes' departure, Rahul Tripathi joined Sanju. He played a few shots like others and followed their lead of getting dismissed cheaply. He was out caught for 17 by Manish Pandey off Shakib's bowling. Jos Butler came in to join Sanju. Sanju failed to hold his nerves and was dismissed by Shakib for 49.  RR was in shambles at 94-5.


After 9 overs, strategic timeout: Rajasthan Royals

Rahane fell to Siddarth Kaul while playing an extravagant shot. He scored run a ball 13. Ben Stokes joined Samson. Afghanistan sensation Rashid Khan was brought into the attack and from ball 1, he kept the batsmen under check. Ben Stokes was visibly under pressure and in frustration, he tried to clear the fence off Billy Stanlake's bowling but was caught by Kane Williamson. Rajasthan was reduced to 63-3 after Stoke's departure. 

End of powerplay: Rajasthan Royals

Invited to bat first, Rajasthan Royals did not have a decent start as opener D Arcy Short was run out for 4 by Kane Williamson in the very first over. Sanju Samson joined captain Ajinkya Rahane. Sanju smashed a couple of boundaries to gather some momentum. Bhuvneshwar Kumar gave 16 runs in his two overs. Shakib Al Hasan came into the attack early on. Rahane too played a few shots, trying to score quickly. Sanju hit a Shakib for a boundary while Rahane had a close shave. At the end of the power play, RR was at 48-1.

Playing XI for Sunrisers Hyderabad: Shikhar Dhawan, Kane Williamson(c), Manish Pandey, Deepak Hooda, Yusuf Pathan, Shakib Al Hasan, Wriddhiman Saha(w), Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Billy Stanlake, Siddarth Kaul

Playing XI for Rajasthan Royals: Ajinkya Rahane(c), D Arcy Short, Sanju Samson(w), Ben Stokes, Rahul Tripathi, Jos Buttler, Krishnappa Gowtham, Shreyas Gopal, Dhawal Kulkarni, Jaydev Unadkat, Ben Laughlin

Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals will have to overcome the unexpected loss of their respective captains, David Warner and Steve Smith, when the two teams clash in the IPL 2018 on Monday. Rain could play spoilsport as Hyderabad had been hit by a hailstorm and heavy showers on Saturday. The threat of a wet weather looms in the city, causing concerns among Hyderabad Cricket Association officials.

Ajinkya Rahane has had to take charge as Rajasthan Royals captain, and Kane William as the skippers of Sunrisers Hyderabad and Smith and Warner were barred by the BCCI from taking part in the IPL following their role in a ball-tampering scandal in South Africa recently. Both Rajasthan, back in the tournament after serving a two-year suspension because of a match-fixing row, and Hyderabad will not only miss the leadership of their designated regular captains but also their able frontline batsmen. 

In the IPL 2018 auction, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) were able to retain a chunk of their players at the auction, while traditionally frugal Royals spent big bucks on the likes of Ben Stokes (Rs 125 million) and Jaydev Unadkat (Rs 115 million) who ended up as season's costliest buys.

In IPL 2017, SRH fell out of the race in the eliminator, so they would be keen to go the distance this season and hope to lay their hands on the silverware. RR will want to celebrate their return to the IPL after a 2-year ban with a win.

Here are a few things you should know about the Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Rajasthan Royals match being played in Hyderabad, the two squads and what to expect from Match 4 of IPL 2018: 

Team Head to Head

Overall: Matches – 7, Sunrisers Hyderabad won – 3, Rajasthan Royals won – 4

Trivia

Sunrisers Hyderabad have a 20-10 win-loss record in IPL matches at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad; the win-loss record improves to 10-3 in the last 13 matches they’ve played at the venue.

The team batting first won 6 of the 8 matches played at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad in last season’s IPL.

At the age of 27 years & 244 days, Kane Williamson will become Sunrisers Hyderabad’s youngest captain.

Tall order for Ajinkya Rahane: Back after serving a two-year ban due to a spot-fixing scandal, inaugural Indian Premier League (IPL) champions Rajasthan Royals will definitely miss the star power of beleaguered former Australian captain Steve Smith but will look to Ajinkya Rahane for inspiration and hope their good-looking squad can deliver in the upcoming edition starting on Saturday. Rahane was named the skipper of the Jaipur-based franchise after Smith was removed in the wake of the ball-tampering incident under his leadership in Australia's Cape Town Test against South Africa.

SRH need to sort out little details, says Bhuvi: Ahead of the 11th edition of IPL, Sunrisers Hyderabad's experienced seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar reckoned that the team would need to look out for the "little things" which can make them champions. The 28-year-old leading India bowler said the team needs to do "things correctly" through the tournament. "Our aim is to win the championship but we know it's not going to be easy because each team is equally good. So we have to do out things correctly throughout the tournament and look for the little things which will make us champions," Bhuvneshwar told IANS during an event of the Red FM, which is the principal sponsor of the Hyderabad squad.

Alex Hales is Warner's replacement in SRH for IPL 2018: England batsman Alex Hales is replacing the banned Australian opener David Warner in the Sunrisers Hyderabad squad for the 11th edition of IPL. Hales was bought for his base price of Rs 10 million as a replacement for 31-year-old Warner, who was barred from taking part in IPL-2018 by the BCCI after Cricket Australia (CA) handed him a one-year ban for his role in the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa.