The IPL-16 season has kicked off with a bang as the Rajasthan Royals made a rousing start, thrashing the Sunrisers Hyderabad by a massive 72 runs. The Royals won the toss and chose to bat, and their T20 World Cup-winning England skipper Jos Buttler set the tone with a blistering 54 off just 22 balls, smashing seven boundaries and three sixes. Promising uncapped Indian Yashasvi Jaiswal also made an identical 54 off 37 balls with nine boundaries, while skipper Sanju Samson top-scored with 55 off 32 balls, hitting three boundaries and four sixes, to help the Royals post the season’s highest total of 203 for 5.
In reply, the Sunrisers managed just 131 for 8 in their allotted 20 overs. The home side lost two wickets without opening the account, with Trent Boult inflicting a double blow in the first over en route to his splendid figures of 4-1-21-2. Indian wrist spinner Yuzvendra Chahal made hay in his 4-0-17-4 to have the Sunrisers reeling at 95 for 8. But the Jammu and Kashmir duo of Abdul Samad (32 not out; 32 balls) and Umran Malik (19 not out; 8 balls) produced some late fireworks to take them to a respectable 131 for 8.
The Rajasthan Royals were understandably thrilled with their fantastic start to the tournament. Captain Sanju Samson said, “We had a really good last season but this is a great marker for this time, we start fresh. 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.” He also praised his opening batsmen, saying, “Having batters like Buttler and Jaiswal, the mindset with which they play the powerplay we can expect such starts.”
Buttler himself was in high spirits, saying, “Fantastic start. 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.” Meanwhile, Chahal was pleased with his own performance, saying, “Definitely the start we wanted. The way Jos and Jaiswal batted, we knew a big score will always be difficult to score. The plan was to bowl stump to stump, tossing it up is my strength. I’m not too bothered about who I’m bowling to. Definitely you’ll see a big celebration when I get a five-wicket haul.”
On the other hand, Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Bhuvneshwar Kumar acknowledged that his team had a lot of work to do, saying, “We did not bowl pretty well, first match of the season and a lot to improve.” However, he remained optimistic about the future, saying, “South Africans are coming back and we definitely will be a much better batting side, we have to move forward from this game.”
The Rajasthan Royals have made an impressive start to their IPL-16 campaign, and they will be looking to build on this momentum as the tournament progresses. With a strong batting line-up and a formidable bowling attack, they are definitely a team to watch out for this season.
