IPL 2020 Highlights, SRH vs RR Match, Full Cricket Score: Rajasthan beat Hyderabad by five wickets

Happy to see multiple match-winning performances from Tewatia. Out of Rajasthan Royals’ last 58 runs, he scored 36 runs today. Game changer!

Rajasthan Royals win!

Right then! Who would’ve thought it would come to this… eight needed off six balls. Khaleel goes full round the wickett to Parag, who hits straight for a couple. A single next ball means the left-hander Tewatia is on strike and Khaleel will bowl in his arc. Lots of field changes happening. Five needed off four. Khaleel goes length, and Tewatia plays it to deep square leg. A fumble from Vijay Shankar means a double to Tewatia. Khaleel goes slightly short next ball and Tewatia pulls it to long off for a single. Two needed off two. Are we headed to a super over?

Young Parag on strike. The pitch seems to have evened out, funnily. Khaleel comes round the wicket, and that’s it! He bowls a full toss and Riyan Parag calmly deposits it over covers for a six. RR win!

That’s it! Rajasthan Royals have done it! Khaleel goes full and Riyan Parag smashes him over covers to seal a memorable win. What a game!

After 19 overs,Rajasthan Royals 151/5 ( Riyan Parag 33 , Rahul Tewatia 42)

RR are doing it…they really are! 14 come from this over as Tewatia tears into Natrajan. Yorkers have been dospatched through covers and lapped over fine leg, Belt-up.

Tewatia!! He is doing it again. Walks across, the attempted yorker goes slightly wrong and Tewatia deposits it over fine leg. You beauty!

Attempted yorker from Natrajan and Tewatia makes room and creams it through mid-off. Beats mid-off. Excellent!

After 18 overs,Rajasthan Royals 137/5 ( Riyan Parag 31 , Rahul Tewatia 30)

What an over this turned out to be…three fours and two singles make it an over that has put RR’s chase back in track. SRH hold the edge, still, but it is coming down to nerves now.

Third in a row…Full, slanting across and this time Tewatia goes conventional. Goes over off side…lovely strokemaking.

And again….similar bowl, same shot…Tewatia is going for it!

Full, on the off stumo, and Tewatia goes for a reverse slash. Oh my!

After 17 overs,Rajasthan Royals 123/5 ( Riyan Parag 30 , Rahul Tewatia 18)

Sandeep Sahrma to bowl the 17th. This has to be a big over, surely….and it is. Starts with a cracking six from Tewatia before Riyan Parag hits two fours. They are getting a move on, does RR.

Sandeep goes full, and Parag does an AB. Walks across and scoop-laps it from the crease over fine leg. Very impressive.

Lovely shot this, Riyan Parag. Short and some width, and Parag stands tall and bisects the gap between long off and deep cover.

Tewatia!! That came out of nowhere. Sandeep Sharma ambles in, no pace, and Tewatia smashes that one over deep midwicket.

After 16 overs,Rajasthan Royals 105/5 ( Riyan Parag 21 , Rahul Tewatia 9)

Last five over. 65 to get from 30 balls. Required rate: 13 RPO. With only Jofra Archer, Shreyas Gopal, Jaydev Unadkat, and Kartik Tyagi to come, RR are in real trouble. They need a big over, obviously, but who can they target? Khaleel steams; he has taken two wickets already…and that could have been his third. Slower one from Khaleel and Parag miscues his slog. It went miles up, and goes straight through the hands of Priyam Garg. Parag makes that one count with a resounding pulled six on the last ball. Brilliant sound off the bat.

Whatta shot! Riyan Parag absolutely crunched that pull off Khaleel.

After 15 overs,Rajasthan Royals 94/5 ( Riyan Parag 12 , Rahul Tewatia 7)

Natrajan returns. Starts with a full, slower ball that is chipped over his head by Parag. Tewatia gets another single to long on. This won’t hurt SRH one bit, but with no real batting to come, one can’t really blame these two for not taking any risks. Hang on…there’s an appeal for run-out at the bowler’s end, but the third-umpire reckons that’s not out. Six singles from the over means this is another superb over from SRH. They are clear favourites now.

After 14 overs,Rajasthan Royals 88/5 ( Riyan Parag 9 , Rahul Tewatia 4)

Sandeep Sharma returns. Tewatia on strike. Starts with two dots before the left hander gets a single to long off. The asking rate, meanwhile, has crossed 11. With half their side gone, it is not looking pretty for RR. Four runs from the over; a very, very tidy one. Pressure’s mounting on RR.

After 13 overs,Rajasthan Royals 84/5 ( Riyan Parag 7 , Rahul Tewatia 2)

Rahul Tewatia is the new man in. He joins young Riyan Parag in the middle as Vijay Shankar runs in. The wicket is already stopping, and Tewatia nearly lobs a return catch to Shankar. Six from the over including two wides. Watch out for the asking rate, RR.

After 12 overs,Rajasthan Royals 78/5 ( Riyan Parag 5 , )

Rashid continues. This is his third over. Starts with a dot and then Samson cuts him in front of square with a couple. Three leg byes follow, and Rashid strikes! He is literally turning the match. What a bowler. RR are crumbling.

Rashid strikes again! Samson departs. Caught behind! 

Samson c Bairstow b Rashid Khan 26(25) [4s-3]

After 11 overs,Rajasthan Royals 72/4 ( Sanju Samson 24 , Riyan Parag 4)

Vijay Shankar continues. Dots stacking up now. The required rate is inching towards 10 an over now. Samson holds the key, but they can’t leave it for too late. Five singles from this over.

After 10 overs,Rajasthan Royals 67/4 ( Sanju Samson 21 , Riyan Parag 2)

Rashid to bowl the tenth over, and he strikes! Gets rid of the experienced Robin Uthappa with a flat leg break  that turned. Riyan Parag comes in, and is pinned on the front leg by Rashid third ball. Sunrisers appeal, but the umpire is unmoved. Warner reviews, but that ball was doing too much. Rashid is looking threatening here.

Rashid strikes. Back of length, quick, turns, Uthappa goes back and that one hits below his knee roll. That could have been a dangerous partnership. Tough road ahead for RR. 

Uthappa lbw b Rashid Khan 18(15) [4s-1 6s-1]

After 9 overs,Rajasthan Royals 63/3 ( Sanju Samson 19 , Robin Uthappa 18)

Vijay Shankar into the attack. Required rate is close to nine, tough on this pitch but not unmanageable. They need to run hard on this large ground, and that’s precisely what these two are looking to do. A boundary on the last ball ends the 11-run over.

Lovely stroke from Samson. He is looking good today. Gets some pace to work with and beats the off-side field to collect four runs.

After 8 overs,Rajasthan Royals 52/3 ( Sanju Samson 12 , Robin Uthappa 14)

Rashid Kahn now. LBW appeal against Uthappa first ball but that was going down I reckon. No review taken. Will be interesting to see if they milk Rashid or attack him. The Afghan leggie has been in superb form so far, and he ends the over with another loud LBW appeal, this one with more conviction than the earlier one. The umpire is unmoved.

After 7 overs,Rajasthan Royals 47/3 ( Sanju Samson 9 , Robin Uthappa 12)

Abhishek Sharma comes on and Sanju Samson has decided to target him. Opens his account with two lovely boundaries on either side of the wicket as 11 come off this over.

Consecutive fours. Slightly short of length from Abhishek and Samson makes room and creams it through the off-side. Beats sweeper cover.

Short and into his body from left-arm spinner Abhishek Sharma and Samson pulls it hard. Good shot.

After 6 overs,Rajasthan Royals 36/3 ( Sanju Samson 0 , Robin Uthappa 10)

Natrajan to Samson. And the left-armer has stuck to a fine length here. Six dot balls to cap off the powerplay that well and truly went to SRH. A lot will depend on how Samson holds his nerve in this situation. Uthappa, obviously, has been here before. Are we in for a contest or what?

After 5 overs,Rajasthan Royals 36/3 ( Sanju Samson 0 , Robin Uthappa 10)

Another eventful over, this time from Khaleel. He gets rid of Buttler with an excellent delivery, but Robin Uthappa wrests some initiative back with a six and a four. 10 runs and a wicket there. Long road ahead for RR though.

After 4 overs,Rajasthan Royals 26/2 ( Jos Buttler (W) 16 , Sanju Samson 0)

Yorker time! T Natrajan comes into the attack. Khaleel, after getting a wicket, is off the attack. Natrajan almost nails his yorker but concedes a four and a six to Buttler. Smith is run out next and 12 come from that very eventful over.

Sanju Samson in IPL, Dot% and SR:

Batting first: 32.2, 141.0
Chasing: 37.4, 126.9

Another blow! Khaleel this time. Hits an excellent length cuts the ball back in and gets a faint edge from Buttler. RR are in real trouble. Khaleel is on fire!

Buttler c Bairstow b Khaleel Ahmed 16(13) [4s-1 6s-1]

Sandeep Sharma has taken 46% of his IPL career wickets in PP overs.

Smith’s gone! They went for a needless second run after collecting 11 runs already. Bad move…Vijay Shankar’s powerful arm does the job.

What a shot that from Buttler! Short again from Natrajan and Buttler skims this pull shot.

Butter pulls…Natrajan drops short, and Buttler rolls his wrists nicely over that one.

After 3 overs,Rajasthan Royals 14/1 ( Jos Buttler (W) 4 , Steven Smith (C) 5)

Sandeep continues. Keeper goes back now. He has a sweeper cover for Smith, which leaves room for a single. Smith gets that easy single. Sandeep goes 12 kmph next ball to Buttler, who works it to the leg side for a single. Follows it with a 111 kmph delivery to Smith, who hits it to the sweeper cover for another single. The keeper comes up now. He is giving them no pace to work with. Just four from this over.

After 2 overs,Rajasthan Royals 10/1 ( Jos Buttler (W) 2 , Steven Smith (C) 3)

Khaleel Ahmed to bowl the second over. Short of length on Buttler’s middle and leg, and the right-hander collects an easy single. Stokes on strike, and he’s gone! Attempted pull gets the under edge and crashes into the stumps. Big wicket. Steve Smith walks in. Khaleel is slanting the ball across the right-hander, but gets some shape into the right-hander next ball. Smith duly pushes it to three towards the long deep midwicket region. Ends the over with a dot; just four from it and a wicket to boot.

Gone! Khaleel draws first blood. Back of length and coming in, Stokes goes for a pull but the 138kmph ball takes the under edge and crashes into the stumps. Big, big blow. 

Stokes b Khaleel Ahmed 5(6) [4s-1]

After 1 overs,Rajasthan Royals 6/0 ( Ben Stokes 5 , Jos Buttler (W) 1)

Right then. Sandeep Sharma to begin the proceedings as Ben Stokes (believe it or not) and Jos Buttler come out in pursuit of SRH’s 158. Their first target should be to bat through the powerplay. Good, attacking move from RR to get Stokes to open. Smith is very good against the spin and has the skills to bat on this slow, low track. Stokes to take the first strike. He walks down the track and defends solidly. That found the middle of his bat. Sandeep goes back of length and slants across, and there’s a bit of play and miss from Stokes. Some movement off the pitch there. And as if to negate that, Stokes walks out next ball and hits Sharma straight for a boundary. The keeper (Jonny Bairstow) comes up to keep Stokes in his crease. Quick thinking there from SRH camp. He takes a single to bring Buttler in strike, who opens his account straightaway with a single on the off side. Good start for both teams.

And RR are away. Ben Stokes gets the innings going with a lovely drive off Sandeep Sharma.

10 of 11 matches played at Dubai in this season of IPL have been won by teams batting first.

Do SRH have enough?

This Dubai pitch is a tough one that is destined to get tougher, which means SRH’s tally of 158/4 is far trickier than it appears. David Warner and Manish Pandey were the cornerstones of SRH effort before twin cameos from Williamson and Priyam Gard took them past 150. A lot depends on the start that RR get. Jos Buttler and Sanju Samson like pace on the ball, and they’ll have to adapt really well to come good tonight. Interesting battle this, but advantage SRH.

After 20 overs,Sunrisers Hyderabad 158/4 ( Kane Williamson 22 )

Unadkat to bowl the final over. He has used the track very well today. Having said that, his slower ball has just been dispatched with disdain by Priyam Garg. He collects another boundary over fine leg before he is run out on the last ball. Still, SRH plunder 16 from this over. 158/4 is what they have got. Will that be enough? We’ll find out very soon.

Gone on the last ball! Priyam Garg goes for the tough second run but is clearly short. Good cameo from the young man, and that ends SRH’s innings.

Slower from Unadkat and young Priyam Garg gets stuck into it.

After 19 overs,Sunrisers Hyderabad 142/3 ( Kane Williamson 19 , Priyam Garg 3)

Archer. Starts with a slower delivery that Williamson smashes for a straight six. Follows it up with a beamer, but no damage done on the resulting free hit. He hurries Priyam Garg with pace, but no such trouble for the Kiwi skipper who ends the over with another six. Lovely to watch.

Stunner from Williamson! Slower and in slot from Archer, but unreal execution from Williamson. Clears the straight boundary with a one-handed shot.

After 18 overs,Sunrisers Hyderabad 123/3 ( Kane Williamson 4 , Priyam Garg 0)

Unadkat returns. He should be difficult to get away on this pitch, and he shows why. Gets the well-set Pandey with a slow bouncer and concedes just six. Excellent, from the left-armer.

Pandey departs! Slow bouncer from Unadkat and Pandey goes across the line. No power behind that one, and he’s taken in the deep. Good innings. 

Manish Pandey c Rahul Tewatia b Unadkat 54(44) [4s-2 6s-3]

After 17 overs,Sunrisers Hyderabad 117/2 ( Manish Pandey 50 , Kane Williamson 2)

Right, four overs to go. Expect a mad dash here, with SRH having eight wickets in hand. Kartik Tyagi returns and nails a perfect yorker to Pandey. The under edge gets him a single. Goes full again, touches 140 kmph, but Williamsin works him for a single. Kartik misses his length to Pandey whi duly fetches a leg-stump boundary. A single next ball gets him to a well-deserved fifty. Eight from the over.

Full, on legs to Pandey. Kartik misses his length, but Pandey doesn’t. Hits him to deep square leg fence.

After 16 overs,Sunrisers Hyderabad 109/2 ( Manish Pandey 44 , Kane Williamson 0)

Tewatia comes on, and almost gets Pandey…instead, the scorecard shows 4 runs! Kartik Tyagi at the ropes fails to judge it and that’s a luck boundary for Pandey. As if to make a statement, Pandey launches Tewatia for a straight six. He is on the charge. 13 from this over.

There goes Manish Pandey again! Some air from Tewatia and Pandey is on the move. Lovely use of the feet to get underneath the ball and hits straight.

After 15 overs,Sunrisers Hyderabad 96/2 ( Manish Pandey 31 , Kane Williamson 0)

Archer returns. His first spell was fiery, and he touches 145 kmph straightaway. Warner takes a tight single on the third ball and converts it into a two by putting fielder under pressure. Archer has the last laugh though as a 146kmph screamer breaches Warner’s castle. Ends the over with a 148 kmph thunderbolt to Williamson.

146 clicks! Jofra Archer comes round the wicket to Warner who creates room and goes across the line. Doesn’t work out. Archer hits the woodwork. 

Warner b Jofra Archer 48(38) [4s-3 6s-2]

After 14 overs,Sunrisers Hyderabad 93/1 ( David Warner (C) 46 , Manish Pandey 30)

Gopal returns. The spinners are increasingly difficult to get away on this track, provided they stick to the right length. Gopal misses his once, and Pandey launches him for a six. A double and a couple of singles means 10 from the over.

Pandey!! Not a perfect connection there, but still imparts enough power. He got under that Gopal delivery and collects a six.

After 13 overs,Sunrisers Hyderabad 83/1 ( David Warner (C) 43 , Manish Pandey 23)

Unadkat to bowl this one. He comes round the wicket to Manish Pandey, who takes a single to mid-on. With nine wickets in hand, expect these two to go hell for leather. Warner pulls hard, but just a single there. Now, Pandey’s turn. Good shot to the cow corner, made decent connection too, but doesn’t reach the boundary. Just a single. Unadkat slants a back of length ball across Pandey and he pulls it for a single again. Ends the over with a single to Warner. That pull was in the air for a while though. Six from the over; a very decent one.

After 12 overs,Sunrisers Hyderabad 77/1 ( David Warner (C) 40 , Manish Pandey 20)

Tewatia into his third over. Starts with three dots to Manish Pandey before giving a single away. Tosses up to Warner who tries a reverse hit. The ball balloons up but lands safely. Three singles from the over.

After 11 overs,Sunrisers Hyderabad 74/1 ( David Warner (C) 39 , Manish Pandey 18)

Kartik Tyagi returns. Looks like they are getting a move on here. Manish Pandey takes a swipe first ball but gets only a single off the bottom edge, but Warner makes full use of an attempted slower bouncer and deposits it into the stands. 11 from this Kartik over.

Warner v Stokes in T20 cricket:

Runs – 17
Balls – 15
Dismissals – 2
SR – 113.33

David Warner’s four of five dismissals have come against leg-spinners in this year’s IPL.

What a shot! Short of length, goes Kartik Tyagi and the ball sits up to be hit. Warner goes over extra cover. A 83-metre six.

After 10 overs,Sunrisers Hyderabad 63/1 ( David Warner (C) 30 , Manish Pandey 16)

Tewatia continues. He is largely bowling back of the length to not allow the batsmen to get underneath the ball. Warner tries a few hefty blows but doesn’t get the desired power or timing. Running is the key here, and Warner does it really well. They score off every ball, and there’s seven from the over. Ten overs done.

After 9 overs,Sunrisers Hyderabad 56/1 ( David Warner (C) 26 , Manish Pandey 13)

Ninth over, and here’s the first sighting of Ben Stokes. Starts with a length ball to Pandey’s legs who plays it comfortably to deep square leg for a single. Much better length and line to Warner who plays it to mid-off. No run there. A bit short and Warner rocks back o this slow track and pulls it for a single to deep square leg. Warner ends the over with a four through the off-side. They’re going at a healthy rate, these two.

Back of length from Stokes and Warner creates room on the off-side and smashes a boundary.

Manish Pandey has now completed 3000 runs in IPL.

After 8 overs,Sunrisers Hyderabad 49/1 ( David Warner (C) 21 , Manish Pandey 11)

Gopal returns, Starts with a dot to Pandey before the right hander takes a single to sweeper cover. Gopal tosses it up and goes a touch fuller to Warner. Bad move. The left-hander launches this into the stands over deep midwicket to ensure another productive over. 11 from the over with a single to Warner on the last ball.

SIX!

Too full and into the slot from Gopal, and Warner hits it over deep mid-wicket. Excellent execution. That’s not the length to bowl here.

After 7 overs,Sunrisers Hyderabad 38/1 ( David Warner (C) 12 , Manish Pandey 9)

Rahul Tewatia into the attack. Starts with a wide before Manish Pandey launches him into the stands with a lovely straight hit. Warner collects a boundary too, and that means Tewatia has gone for 12.

SIX!

Tweatia comes on, and after a one-ball sighter, Manish Pandey launches him over his head. Lovely use of the feet there.

After 6 overs,Sunrisers Hyderabad 26/1 ( David Warner (C) 8 , Manish Pandey 2)

Jaydev Unadkat comes in for the last over of the powerplay. He finds his length almost immediately. Looks like a ideal surface for Unadkat with his cutters and slower balls. The batsmen are already finding him hard to get away. Just three singles from the over and 26 in the powerplay. Excellent start from RR.

After 5 overs,Sunrisers Hyderabad 23/1 ( David Warner (C) 7 , Manish Pandey 0)

Excellent start from Kartik Tyagi. Concedes an early boundary but makes up next ball with the big wicket of Bairstow. He stuck to his length, bends his back,a nd reaps rewards. The successful opening combine is broken. Manish Pandey walks in. Will be interesting to see Warner’s approach here. Ten runs and a wicket in this over.

OUT!

Six and out! Tyagi hits the length, Bairstow goes for the shot and Sanju Samson takes an excellent diving catch in the deep. First blow to SRH. 

Bairstow c Samson b Kartik Tyagi 16(19) [6s-1]

SIX!

Length ball from Kartik Tyagi and Bairstow launches into it in a beautiful arch.

After 4 overs,Sunrisers Hyderabad 13/0 ( David Warner (C) 7 , Jonny Bairstow (W) 6)

Gopal continues. Concedes a boundary to Warner but has been impressive overall. He varied his lengths and pace very well there. This is a very good powerplay for RR so far.

FOUR!

Warner on the sweep. Gopal tosses it up and Warner was early into the shot. Still, manages to hit it in the gap.

After 3 overs,Sunrisers Hyderabad 6/0 ( David Warner (C) 2 , Jonny Bairstow (W) 4)

Jofra into his second over. He is touching 145 kmph already! Third delivery is 148 kmph…serious pace, but Bairstow is not rushed. Archer bowls a well-directed 145kmph bouncer. Bairstow was shaping for a pull but backed of. Follows it up with a 150kmph straight ball that yields a single. Just one from the over. Superb from Archer.

After 2 overs,Sunrisers Hyderabad 5/0 ( David Warner (C) 2 , Jonny Bairstow (W) 3)

Shreyas Gopal, the leg-spinner comes in with a slip in place. Starts with a back of length ball that Bairstow cuts to point. Much fuller next ball, and they take a single with a soft push from the right-hander. No slip for Warner. Gopal tosses it on middle and leg and Warner drives firmly to long-on. Bairstow goes for a sweep but plays it straight to square leg. Short again from Gopal but Bairstow can’t clear the inner ring. Good over so far; just two runs so far. He moves the mid-wicket to deep square leg for the last ball of the over. Full ball on off stump is played to long-on by Bairstow. Neat finish.

After 1 overs,Sunrisers Hyderabad 2/0 ( David Warner (C) 1 , Jonny Bairstow (W) 1)

Warner and Bairstow, fresh from their 160-run alliance against KXIP, strut out on a hot, sunny Dubai afternoon. Some grass on the pitch, but most likley that’s dead grass that binds the pitch together. Warner has won a very important toss and he’d like to make the most of the advantage. 
Jofra Archer starts the proceedings with a full delivery across Warner, who plays and misses. Hits the good length next ball that Warner defends. Gets off the mark on the fourth ball with a push to mid-off. Good running from these two. Archer bangs it in short to Bairstow who plays it to fine leg. Ends the over with a bouncer to Warner.

Warner v Archer:

Tests : 3 dismissals, 8.67 avg.
ODIs : 2 dismissals, 14.00 avg.
T20Is: 2 dismissals, 6.00 avg.

SRH have a 6-5 win/loss record against RR in IPL.

RR have lost each of their last four matches in this IPL – the joint most that they have lost in a season. They lost four consecutive matches each in 2011 and 2012.

Sanju Samson is playing his 100th IPL match.

Advantage Sunrisers

In seven matches played this week so far, teams batting second have not won a single game. The victory margins have been comfortable too, indicating tired pitches and a general difficulty in dealing with dual-paced tracks. All things considered, a wise decision from Warner. He’ll be hoping for a brisk start with Bairstow and set the platform early. For RR, it will be very interesting to see how Stokes performs after two months of no competitive cricket. Lots of changes in RR team, indicating a real desperation to get two points. Will the changes pay off? We’ll soon find out.

Sunrisers Hyderabad Playing XI

David Warner (capt), Jonny Bairstow (wk), Manish Pandey, Kane Williamson, Priyam Garg, Vijay Shankar, Abhishek Sharma, Rashid Khan, T Natarajan, Khaleel Ahmed, Sandeep Sharma

Rajasthan Royals Playing XI

Jos Buttler (wk), Robin Uthappa, Sanju Samson, Steven Smith (capt), Ben Stokes, Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Shreyas Gopal, Jofra Archer, Varun Aaron, Kartik Tyagi

SRH win toss, elect to bat; Ben Stokes returns for RR

Sunrisers Hyderabad have won the toss and David Warner has elected to bat on a used Dubai pitch. “It look a nice wicket, it’ll get slower and we’ll like to make most of it. We have lot of young legs in the team and they are calm and composed and play the game with full responsibility. In-form seniors helps too,” says Warner. Vijay Shankar comes in for Samad.

Steve Smith: “It looks a used wicket and will slow down. We hope to bowl well so that we don’t have to chase too many. Stokes trained yesterday and he looked good, so he comes in.”

SRH win toss, elect to bat; Ben Stokes returns for RR

Sunrisers Hyderabad have won the toss and David Warner has elected to bat on a used Dubai pitch. “It look a nice wicket, it’ll get slower and we’ll like to make most of it. We have lot of young legs in the team and they are calm and composed and play the game with full responsibility. In-form seniors helps too,” says Warner. Vijay Shankar comes in for Samad.

Steve Smith: “It looks a used wicket and will slow down. We hope to bowl well so that we don’t have to chase too many. Stokes trained yesterday and he looked good, so he comes in.”

The Stokes question

For RR, Jofra Archer has found very little support in bowling from Ankit Rajpoot, Jaydev Unadkat, and Andrew Tye. In batting, the team has tended to capitulate once their top three fail. Should Ben Stokes return, it’ll add much-needed heft to RR’s batting and bowling. Mind you, Stokes has played no cricket for over 60 days.

For SRH, Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s injury has lent them a severe blow to their bowling combination, albeit T Natrajan and Rashid Khan have been superb for the David Warner-led team.

Starting problems for RR

Both teams take the field on the back of contrasting recent results. SRH have won three of their last five matches, including the most recent one, while RR have endured four defeats on the trot. Both teams rely on their top three –  SRH’s Warner, Bairstow, and Williamson have shown form whereas RR’s top-order of Steve Smith, Jos Buttler, and Sanju Samson has been inconsistent. Who’ll take the day today?

Here are the two squads:

Rajasthan Royals: Steve Smith, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler, Mahipal Lomror, Manan Vohra, Riyan Parag, Robin Uthappa, David Miller, Ankit Rajpoot, Mayank Markande, Shreyas Gopal, Varun Aaron, Jaydev Unadkat, Kartik Tyagi, Akash Singh, Oshane Thomas, Andrew Tye, Rahul Tewatia, Shashank Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Anirudha Joshi, Tom Curran, Sanju Samson, Anuj Rawat.

Sunrisers Hyderabad: David Warner (c), Abhishek Sharma, Basil Thampi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Billy Stanlake, Jonny Bairstow, Kane Williamson, Manish Pandey, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Sandeep Sharma, Shahbaz Nadeem, Shreevats Goswami, Siddarth Kaul, Khaleel Ahmed, T Natarajan, Vijay Shankar, Wriddhiman Saha, Virat Singh, Priyam Garg, Jason Holder, Sandeep Bavanaka, Fabian Allen, Abdul Samad, Sanjay Yadav

Good news!

The women’s T20 challenge will be held in UAE from 4 to 9 November. The venue is not finalised yet but the schedule and squads are out. Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana and Mithali Raj have been declared as captains of Supernovas, Trailblazers and Velocity teams respectively. 

Check out the schedule and squads here.

Kolkata Knight Riders spinner Sunil Narine has been once again reported for chucking during his team’s IPL match against Kings XI Punjab and one more breach could lead to him being barred from bowling again.

Read the full report here.

Bruised and battered after a string of defeats, Rajasthan Royals will hope the presence of Ben Stokes gets the adrenaline flowing as they seek a revival of fortunes against a charged-up Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League on Sunday.

Click here to read the preview.

Hello and welcome to Firstpost’s live coverage of IPL 2020. Kicking off Sunday’s doubleheader is the clash between David Warner’s Sunrisers Hyderabad and Steve Smith-led Rajasthan Royals. Stay tuned for latest updates and scores!