With a crucial win on Thursday, 22 October, Sunrisers Hyderabad climbed two spots to fifth in the Indian Premier League (IPL) standings after registering an eight-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals.
Steve Smith’s RR on the other hand have slipped one place to seventh, further reducing their chances of finishing in the top four and making the cut for a Playoffs berth.
Choosing to bowl first, Jason Holder led the way as SRH restricted RR to 154/6 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Brought in as replacement for the injured Kane Williamson, Holder took the important wickets of Sanju Samson (36), RR captain Steve Smith (19) and the dangerous Riyan Parag (20) and ended the innings with figures of 3/33.
In response, an unbeaten 140-run partnership for the third wicket between Manish Pandey (83 not out) and Vijay Shankar (52 not out) helped SRH chase down their target with 11 balls to spare.
Jofra Archer (2/21) gave RR a strong start to their defence, dismissing SRH openers David Warner and Jonny Bairstow in his first two overs. SRH were on 16/2 wickets when Shankar joined Pandey in the middle.
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