On his day, Manish Pandey can be devastating with a bat in his hands. Rajasthan Royals was at the receiving end of his beautiful onslaught at the Dubai International Stadium on Thursday.
Chasing what looked like an under-par target of 155, his unbeaten 83 (47b, 4x4, 8x6) helped Sunrisers Hyderabad post an eight-wicket win after three straight defeats. His 140-run stand for the unbroken third wicket with Vijay Shankar (52 not out, 51b, 6x4) ensured RR had little chance after Jofra Archer had made early inroads.
David Warner's men, with eight points, have now caught up with RR and KXIP, as the battle for a place in the playoffs hots up in the lower half of the table.
Warner, Archer’s bunny
The chase had begun disastrously, though, as Archer extended his stranglehold over Warner, removing him with the fourth ball of the innings.
The delivery moved away to take the outside edge and Ben Stokes justified Steve Smith's decision to have a second slip with a diving catch. It was the sixth time in the last seven innings that Archer had dismissed the Australian.
Archer dealt another severe blow in his next over, this time with a ball that came back in sharply, at 149kmph. It was too good for Jonny Bairstow, who was bowled through the gate.
This meant SRH’s two most successful batsmen, both with over 300 runs in the tournament, were back in the dugout inside the third over, with the score on 16. It also meant that Pandey had an opportunity to showcase his talent. He stroked the ball well from the beginning, hitting two boundaries off Kartik Tyagi.
In the following over, he smashed two sixes off Ben Stokes, including one with a stunning flick over square-leg. Pandey timed his shots well and paced his innings wonderfully. At the other end, Vijay Shankar was growing in confidence too. By the time Archer was brought back after his two-over burst, it was too late. He was even hit for three successive fours by Vijay Shankar.
Earlier, RR struggled after being put in. None of the batsmen were able to convert their starts against tight bowling, especially by Rashid Khan. Stokes (30, 32b, 2x4) and Sanju Samson (36, 26b, 3x4, 1x6) put on 56 for the second wicket before it was broken by Jason Holder, who made his first IPL match in four years count by taking three wickets.
SCOREBOARD
RAJASTHAN ROYALS
Robin Uthappa run out 19 (13b, 2x4, 1x6) , Ben Stokes b Rashid 30 (32b, 2x4) , Sanju Samson b Holder 36 (26b, 3x4, 1x6) , Jos Buttler c Nadeem b Vijay Shankar 9 (12b) , Steve Smith c Manish b Holder 19 (15b, 2x4) , Riyan Parag c Warner b Holder 20 (12b, 2x4, 1x6) , Rahul Tewatia (not out) 2 (3b) , Jofra Archer (not out) 16 (7b, 1x4, 1x6) ; Extras (w-3): 3; Total (for six wkts in 20 overs): 154.
FALL OF WICKETS 1-30 (Uthappa, 3.3 overs), 2-86 (Samson, 11.4), 3-86 (Stokes, 12.1), 4-110 (Buttler, 15.3), 5-134 (Smith, 18.1), 6-135 (Parag, 18.2).
SUNRISERS BOWLING Sandeep 4-0-31-0, Holder 4-0-33-3, Vijay Shankar 3-0-15-1, Natarajan 4-0-46-0, Rashid 4-0-20-1, Nadeem 1-0-9-0.
SUNRISERS HYDERABAD David Warner c Stokes b Archer 4 (4b, 1x4) , Jonny Bairstow b Archer 10 (7b, 1x4, 1x6) , Manish Pandey (not out) 83 (47b, 4x4, 8x6) , Vijay Shankar (not out) 52 (51b, 6x4) ; Extras (lb-1, w-6): 7; Total (for two wkts in 18.1 overs): 156.
FALL OF WICKETS 1-4 (Warner, 0.4), 2-16 (Bairstow, 2.4).
ROYALS BOWLING Archer 4-0-21-2, Rajpoot 1-0-11-0, Tyagi 3.1-0-42-0, Stokes 2-0-24-0, Shreyas Gopal 4-0-32-0, Tewatia 4-0-25-0.
Toss: SRH.
Man-of-the-Match: Pandey.
SRH won by eight wickets with 11 balls to spare .
