IPL 2020: RR vs SRH Review – Pandey, Shankar blow away the Royals

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) have stayed alive in the ongoing IPL with a brilliant win over the Rajasthan Royals in Match 40. After being invited to bat first, RR lost an early wicket of Robin Uthappa courtesy a superb effort from Jason Holder. Sanju Samson and Ben Stokes then stitched a 56-run stand but there was no momentum to the innings. After getting in, the duo got out soon and that affected the Royals’ finishing touch as well.

Jos Buttler got out without scoring much while Steve Smith too holed out at long-on. It was only due to Jofra Archer and Riyan Parag that they could reach 154/8 in 20 overs. Jason Holder, playing his first match of IPL 2020, returned figures of 3/33 in his four overs.

The chase began on the worst possible note for the Sunrisers. Jofra Archer bowled with sensational pace to send back both openers David Warner and Jonny Bairstow. At 16/2, things looked bleak for SRH but Manish Pandey had different ideas. Even Vijay Shankar struggled to get going at the start, but later he took on the RR bowlers and stunned the opposition.

RR never recovered as none of the bowlers apart from Archer looked effective and Pandey and Shankar just eased into the chase, finishing the game in the 19th over itself.

Turning Points

Shankar-Pandey partnership – At 16/2, the duo came together and what followed was a brilliant partnership. If one was taking on the bowling, the other was making sure he rotated the strike without taking any risk. The combination worked perfectly and despite Shankar being 10 off 18 at one stage, the pressure never got to the duo.

When Pandey went quiet, Shankar took on the bowling, especially Archer, to effectively close the match with authority. They never looked like getting out and eventually got the team over the line in a must-win game.

Top performers

Records/Personal Milestones

• Manish Pandey and Vijay Shankar became the first Indian pair to score a century stand for SRH in the IPL.

Way Ahead

SRH next face an upbeat Kings XI Punjab on Saturday evening while the Royals face the defending champions Mumbai Indians on Sunday.