Rajasthan Royals (RR) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by massive 72 runs to kick off their IPL 2023 campaign in style at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. 

The Opening | RR vs SRH

RR’s top order fired in unison with the likes of Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and skipper Sanju Samson all three scoring fifties. As a result, RR managed to post a mammoth total of 203/5 in the allotted 20 overs.  In reply, SRH were never in the game as they were reduced to 0/2 in the very first over courtesy of Trent Boult. Eventually, they lost the match by a huge margin with no other top-order batter stepping up under pressure.

The hosts had won the toss and opted to bowl first and the decision backfired soon after. Opener Buttler(54 off 22 balls) went after the bowling right from the word ‘go.’ He was particularly harsh against Washington Sundar whom he launched for back-to-back boundaries in his very first over. 

Match Proceedings of Rajasthan Royals vs Sunrisers Hyderabad

After his departure, Jaiswal (54 off 37 balls) took over and alongside skipper Samson (55 off 32 balls) forged a 54-run stand for the second wicket. Both targeted the spinners—Sundar and Adil Rashid who went wicketless. Only, T Natarajan(2/23) managed to hold off the Royals even as star bowlers like Umran Malik conceded runs at an economy north of ten.

In the end, RR posted a target of 205 runs in the allotted 20 overs. 

In reply, SRH was never in the game. They had lost Abhishek Sharma (0) and dangerman Rahul Tripathi(0) in the very same over, reducing the score to 0/2 in the very first over. A lot of expectations were there from England star Harry Brook (13 off 21 balls) but even he failed to deliver. 

Only Mayank Agarwal (27 off 23 balls) hung on but fell to some excellent spin bowling from Yuzvendra Chahal(4/17). Abdul Samad, the impact player, was the top scorer for SRH with 32 runs, but his innings proved inconsequential as SRH kept losing wickets.