Eoin Morgan helps Sunrisers Hyderabad to IPL win over Rajasthan Royals
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Version 0 of 1. Sunrisers Hyderabad kept alive their slim hopes of qualifying for the IPL knockout stages with a comfortable win over the much-fancied Rajasthan Royals. Half-centuries for Shikhar Dhawan and Eoin Morgan set up a big score that always looked to be beyond the reach of the Royals. Sunrisers, who came into the match with neither Trent Boult nor Dale Steyn, were put into bat first and made a strong, boundary-filled start but were worried when David Warner suffered from back spasms in the fourth over. Still, the Australian opener did not hold back before being dismissed by Shane Watson for 24, looking to hit a third consecutive boundary. Dhawan batted fluently and made his half-century in 33 balls but he lost his second-wicket partner, Moisés Henriques, on the way, when the Australian was clean bowled by the excellent Pravin Tambe for 20. Two balls after reaching his 50, Dhawan was bowled by James Faulkner for 54. Dhawan’s dismissal meant the Sunrisers, who had seen their run-rate brought down by some fine bowling after a fast start, would probably have to rely on the England limited-overs partnership of Eoin Morgan and Ravi Bopara to take them to a big total. As those who watched the World Cup knew, this was not an ideal situation. Yet Morgan batted as if he had a point to prove and he justified the decision to select him over Kane Williamson with a 23-ball 50. The England one-day captain timed his acceleration perfectly, launching a stunning assault on the Royals’ bowlers before being caught on the long-off boundary by Steve Smith off Watson’s bowling for an outstanding 28-ball 63. With a huge target to chase, Ajinkya Rahane tried to give the Royals an aggressive start but was caught behind for eight in the first over after hitting two boundaries off Bhuvneshwar Kumar. His fellow opener, Watson, fell to Ishant Sharma soon after to leave the Royals in trouble as they struggled to keep up with the required run-rate against some canny swing bowling from Bhuvneshwar and Praveen Kumar. Karun Nair and Deepak Hooda were both caught in the deep after stodgy, low-scoring innings and it looked as though the run-chase was dead in the water. However, Steve Smith, who had not spent much time in the middle in recent weeks, gave the Royals hope with a magnificent 68 from 40 balls before Bopara – brought into the side for Steyn – ended his innings. With that, and despite Chris Morris’s three sixes in the penultimate over, the Royals’ chances were effectively ended. |