IPL 2017 Highlights: SRH vs RPS in Hyderabad, cricket score and updates: Pune win by 12 runs

Did you know?

148 is the lowest total defended by Rising Pune Supergiant in IPL (prev. 157 against Royal Challengers Bangalore at Pune) and also the lowest any team has defended against Sunrisers Hyderabad (prev. 157 by Mumbai Indians at Wankhede in 2015) in IPL.

Did you know?

This is the first defeat for Sunrisers Hyderabad at home in this IPL. 

Jaydev Unadkat becomes the third player to bowl triple wicket maiden in IPL after Lasith Malinga (2015) and Samuel Badree (2017).

Jaydev Unadkat is the Man of the Match for his figures of 5/30, which included a hat-trick in the final over of the SRH innings that fetched him a triple-wicket maiden.

Jaydev Unadkat’s hat-trick today:

– First player to take for Rising Pune Supergiant 

– Second player to take against Sunrisers Hyderabad 

– Overall 17th in IPL

– Third of IPL 10

Jaydev Unadkat becomes the second bowler to take two five-fors in IPL after James Faulkner.

It was going to take something special for RPS to give SRH their first loss at home. And a triple wicket maiden, with a hat trick, is definitely special. RPS’ playoff hopes receive a huge boost as they move to the top of the table. What a final over from Unadkat, and the Pune strategy of wide cutters has given them four wins in a row.

After 20 overs,Sunrisers Hyderabad 136/9 ( Siddarth Kaul 0 , Ashish Nehra 0)

Unadkat to bowl the final over. Swing and a miss in the first ball, before Bipul holes out to Stokes — who just doesn’t seem to keep himself out of Hyderabad’s dismissals — at deep midwicket. Rashid departs in the very next ball, offering a simple return catch to the bowler, before Unadkat collects the third hat-trick of the tournament as Bhuvneshwar holes out to extra-cover for a golden duck! It turns out to be a triple-wicket maiden for Unadkat, as RPS breach Hyderabad’s fortress. 

Rising Pune Supergiant win by 12 runs, and they move to the 2nd position on the points table!

Unadkat is making a habit of picking up wickets in the death, he now has 11 this season. The left arm angle combined with his off cutter is keeping RPS in the game. Exciting finish alert.

OUT! And that is hat-trick number three of the ongoing IPL, with Bhuvneshwar Kumar offering a simple catch to Tiwary at extra-cover to depart for a golden duck! And that is also Unadkat’s fifth wicket of this innings. First-ever hat-trick for Unadkat in the league! SRH 136/9

Bhuvneshwar c Tiwary b Unadkat 0(1)

OUT! Unadkat picks up his fourth wicket, and is also on a hat-trick! Rashid looked for a slog down the ground, but ends up offering the bowler a simple return catch after a bottom-edge. SRH 136/8

Rashid c&b Unadkat 3(4)

OUT! The game is pretty much in Pune’s hands now, as Bipul holes out to Stokes at deep midwicket while looking for a big hit! SRH 136/7

Bipul c Stokes b Unadkat 8(7)

After 19 overs,Sunrisers Hyderabad 136/6 ( Bipul Sharma 8 , Rashid Khan 3)

Stokes the match-winner to bowl the penultimate over. Rashid Khan is the new batsman at the crease, and he gets off the mark with an ambitious slog towards long-on, though it gets him just a single. Bipul slices the third ball high up in the air, though it lands safely in the vacant point region and allows the batsman to go for a double. Slower ball in the fourth delivery, which Bipul pats over the bowler’s head for a double. Rashid miscues in the last ball of the over, with the ball falling in no-man’s land near midwicket, though the Afghan spinner manages to run back for a second run. Nine runs off the over. 

SRH need 13 to win from 6 balls.

Unadkat is making a habit of picking up wickets in the death, he now has 11 this season. The left arm angle combined with his off cutter is keeping RPS in the game. Exciting finish alert.

After 18 overs,Sunrisers Hyderabad 127/6 ( Bipul Sharma 3 , )

Unadkat starts his new spell off by getting rid of Yuvraj straightaway. Ojha though, keeps SRH in the hunt with a six in the very next delivery, smashing this high up in the air, and getting enough distance to clear the long-on fence. Bipul Sharma, the new man at the crease, gets off the mark with a double in the very first ball of the innings. Ojha departs in the last ball of the over, miscuing towards deep extra-cover! 10 runs and two wickets for Unadkat in this over!  

SRH need 22 to win from 12 balls.

OUT! That’s wicket number two for Unadkat in his comeback over, and this time gets the wicket of keeper-batsman Ojha, who slices the full, wide delivery high up in the air, and gets caught by Stokes at deep extra-cover! SRH 127/6

Ojha c Stokes b Unadkat 9(9)

OUT! Unadkat returns to the attack, and starts off by getting rid of Yuvraj in the first ball of his new spell!  The flamboyant lef-handed batsman tried cutting towards the off-side, and perhaps got a bit of bottom-edge there, holind out to the fielder at sweeper point. SRH 117/5

Yuvraj c Tripathi b Unadkat 47(43)

After 17 overs,Sunrisers Hyderabad 117/4 ( Yuvraj Singh 47 , Naman Ojha (W) 2)

Christian into his third over. Yuvraj smacks the second ball of the over towards the midwicket boundary for his second six, moving to 46 in the process. Nine runs off the over, with Yuvraj just three away from his 13th IPL fifty. 

SRH need 32 to win from 18 balls.

This match is moving into a tight finish, with both teams fancying their chances.RPS would have been very confident if Yuvraj had been dismissed, but still the RRR is nearly 11 now. 

After 16 overs,Sunrisers Hyderabad 108/4 ( Yuvraj Singh 39 , Naman Ojha (W) 1)

Tahir into his final over. Chance for Tiwary to collect a catch at short fine in the very first delivery, though he doesn’t quite get into position, and lets the ball land well outside his reach. Yuvraj then hits the next ball towards the leg side to get his fourth boundary. Seven off the over, with Tahir looking disappointed at the end of the over with the put-down chance by Tiwary. Umpire signals for timeout at the end of the over. 

SRH need 41 to win from 24 balls.

After 15 overs,Sunrisers Hyderabad 101/4 ( Yuvraj Singh 32 , Naman Ojha (W) 1)

Christian returns with the ball for his 2nd over. Yuvraj smacks the first ball towards deep midwicket, though the presence of a fielder near the boundary rope saves two runs for the visitors. Five off the over, with the 100 coming up for the hosts in this over.

SRH need 48 to win from 30 balls.

The overseas players have come to the party to dismiss their opposite numbers; Stokes getting Warner and Tahir castling Henriques.  

As the ball is getting older, the two paced nature of the pitch is apparent again. Required rate now over nine, and SRH’s inexperienced middle order is exposed. It is now or never.

After 14 overs,Sunrisers Hyderabad 96/4 ( Yuvraj Singh 28 , )

Tahir is brought back into the attack in the 14th over, with pressure slowly starting to climb for the Hyderabadis despite the hard-hitting of Yuvraj. Tahir uses the googly to deadly effect in the last ball of the over, with Henriques chopping it back onto his stumps. Just two runs and a wicket off it! 

SRH need 53 to win from 36 balls.

OUT! Tahir castles Henriques with the googly, and sets off for his trademark running celebrations! The Aussie all-rounder simply did not pick that one, and got a thick inside-edge while going for the cut. SRH 96/4

Henriques b Tahir 4(6)

After 13 overs,Sunrisers Hyderabad 94/3 ( Yuvraj Singh 27 , Moises Henriques 3)

Ben Stokes returns to the attack, and he gets the breakthrough once again, getting Warner to cut despite not getting the necessary room, and getting caughgt at deep point. Henriques walks out to bat, and gets off the mark with a double. Yuvraj nearly gets run-out in the fifth delivery while coming back for a second run, and smacks a straight six to end the over. 

SRH need 55 to win from 42 balls.

OUT! It’s that man Stokes again, and this time he gets rid of Warner against the run-of-play, just when the SRH skipper was looking set for a half-century. Warner tried slashing this one towards the off-side and ended up offering a simple catch to Thakur at deep backward point. SRH 83/4

Warner c Thakur b Stokes 40(34)

Warner and Yuvraj still entrenched at the crease, and the longer they bat, the shorter this match promises to be. The pitch seems to have quickened up a bit under lights, with the pacers often beating the bat. While it looks good, it also means that most balls will slide onto the middle of the bat, and put this game in favour of the chasing side. 

After 12 overs,Sunrisers Hyderabad 83/2 ( David Warner (C) 40 , Yuvraj Singh 19)

FOUR! Warner welcomes Daniel Christian into the attack by coming down the track and lofting the ball down the ground with a straight bat for a one-bounce four! That also brings up the 50-stand between him and Yuvraj for the 3rd wicket! Seven runs off the over.

SRH need 66 to win from 48 balls.

After 11 overs,Sunrisers Hyderabad 76/2 ( David Warner (C) 34 , Yuvraj Singh 18)

Thakur into his second over. Swing and miss for Yuvraj in the third ball of the over, which is also what Warner goes through two deliveries later. Very good over by the pacer, with just two singles coming off it. 

SRH need 73 to win from 54 balls.

After 10 overs,Sunrisers Hyderabad 74/2 ( David Warner (C) 33 , Yuvraj Singh 17)

Tahir into his second over, and gives away five runs, including a wide in the fifth delivery of the over. Yuvraj tries lofting the last ball towards the leg-side, but the defensive field set around that area denies him his fourth boundary. 

SRH need 75 to win from 60 balls.

After 9 overs,Sunrisers Hyderabad 69/2 ( David Warner (C) 31 , Yuvraj Singh 15)

Shardul Thakur introduced in the ninth over, and Yuvraj gets his second boundary thanks to a thick outside edge that carries wide of keeper Dhoni and away to the vacant third-man fence. Yuvraj loft-drives the last ball towards the deep extra-cover fence, with 10 coming off the over. The umpire signals for the first timeout at the end of the over, with Warner and Yuvraj bringing SRH back in the game after a quick couple of dismissals. 

SRH need 80 to win from 66 balls.

Warner has taken up the mantle of ‘blitzer’ after Dhawan’s dismissal, and the required run rate is well in control. Dislodging him is the RPS bowling unit priority, even if it means attacking fields that cost some runs.

After 8 overs,Sunrisers Hyderabad 59/2 ( David Warner (C) 30 , Yuvraj Singh 6)

Tahir into the attack in the eighth over, and Warner smacks the 2nd ball straight down the ground for a maximum! Leading edge off Yuvraj’s bat falls well short of the extra-cover fielder. Sundar lets go of a tough chance at backward square-leg in the last delivery after Yuvraj doesn’t get enough elevation in his pull. 10 off the over. 

SRH need 90 to win from 72 balls.

After 7 overs,Sunrisers Hyderabad 49/2 ( David Warner (C) 21 , Yuvraj Singh 5)

Stokes into his second over, and gives away just two singles off it. With Warner starting to look solid at one end, we could have a potential battle between the SRH captain and the most expensive player of the tournament. 

SRH need 100 to win from 78 balls.

David Warner becomes the first player to score 500-plus runs in four consecutive IPL seasons (2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017).

This is the first time in this IPL, Sunrisers Hyderabad have lost two wickets inside the powerplay. They lost one wicket on five occasions. 

After 6 overs,Sunrisers Hyderabad 47/2 ( David Warner (C) 20 , Yuvraj Singh 4)

Sundar to bowl the final over of powerplay, and Warner decides to take on him, hammering three boundaries off the over, getting 14 off the over! The second of the three fours gets him past the 500-run mark in this tournament, and he is well ahead of Gautam Gambhir, the batsman on 2nd in the leading run-getters list, by nearly a 100 runs at the end of this over.

Those two balls from Stokes would have looked right at home in Test Match cricket, and they have accounted for two pricey wickets. RPS needed that after a flurry of runs from Dhawan. At the other end, Washington Sundar excelling against the team who he made his IPL debut.

After 5 overs,Sunrisers Hyderabad 33/2 ( David Warner (C) 6 , Yuvraj Singh 4)

Stokes gets the breakthrough after getting introduced in the fifth over, rattling Dhawan’s off-stump first ball. Williamson gets off the mark with a boundary first ball, before getting caught behind in the third delivery. Yuvraj Singh walks out to bat, and gets a boundary after two dots, slashing towards the cover boundary after being offered the room for the shot. Two boundaries and as many wickets in this over.

OUT! Now it is two wickets in three balls, and Stokes has turned the game around with the ball after playing his part with the bat earlier! Williamson gets an edge while looking to push the back-of-length delivery outside off, and Dhoni starts celebrating immediately after pouching it. RPS 29/2

Williamson c Dhoni b Stokes 4(2)

OUT! Stokes strikes in his very first delivery of the innings, getting ball to stay low and angle into Dhawan’s off-stump. The Indian left-handed opener is dismissed after getting off to a promising start. SRH 25/1

Dhawan b Stokes 19(12)

After 4 overs,Sunrisers Hyderabad 25/0 ( David Warner (C) 6 , Shikhar Dhawan 19)

Sundar into his second over. Warner tries going for a switch-hit in the third ball, but fails to get a run after it runs straight to Tahir at short third. Just two runs off the over, as Sundar continues to keep things tight.

After 3 overs,Sunrisers Hyderabad 23/0 ( David Warner (C) 5 , Shikhar Dhawan 18)

Unadkat into his second over, and deceives Warner with a slower one in the first ball. SIX! Dhawan times his pull in the third delivery towards the midwicket boundary. Nine off the over.

After 2 overs,Sunrisers Hyderabad 14/0 ( David Warner (C) 3 , Shikhar Dhawan 11)

Good, tight over by Sundar, giving away just three singles in his first over of the innings after being introduced from the other end.

4/29 by Siddarth Kaul today is the second best bowling figures by any bowler against Rising Pune Supergiant in IPL after Andrew Tye’s 5/17 (at Rajkot in 2017).

After 1 overs,Sunrisers Hyderabad 11/0 ( David Warner (C) 1 , Shikhar Dhawan 10)

11 runs off the opening over bowled by Unadkat, with Dhawan smacking two boundaries towards the off side to get off the mark in style! Warner, on the other hand, gets off the mark with a single in the very first ball of the innings. 

Unadkat starts the proceedings for RPS, with Warner and Dhawan opening for SRH as usual.

Remeber what happened the last time MSD played against SRH?  He batted as if he was just continuing from that game, helping RPS get close to 150. Still, SRH certainly going into the break happier.

4/29 by Siddarth Kaul today is the second best bowling figures by any bowler against Rising Pune Supergiant in IPL after Andrew Tye’s 5/17 (at Rajkot in 2017).

Lowest totals defended at Hyderabad (RGS) in IPL:

126 by SRH v PW in 2013

132 by DC v RCB in 2012

136 by SRH v RR in 2013

After 20 overs,Rising Pune Supergiant 148/8 ( Washington Sundar 1 , Jaydev Unadkat 0)

Kaul to bowl the final over. Sundar meekly plays the first delivery towards extra-cover, and Henriques misses a direct hit that would have run Sundar out by a mile. Dhoni then guides the second ball over the backward point fielder to get his 2nde boundary. Kaul then does his job at restricting the run-flow by getting Dhoni and Shardul Thakur dismissed off successive deliveries. Quick single (rather a bye) off the last ball, with six coming off the over for the loss of two wickets. 

Rising Pune Supergiant finish on a score of 148/8 after 20 overs.

OUT! Kaul is on a hat-trick, as new batsman Thakur holes a slowr ball out to Warner at long-off! And now Kaul is on a hat-trick! RPS 147/8

Thakur c Warner b Kaul 0(1)

OUT! Dhoni doesn’t quite stick till the very end, as he gets caught behind off Kaul’s bowling in the third ball of the final over! RPS 147/7

Dhoni c Ojha b Kaul 31(21)

After 19 overs,Rising Pune Supergiant 142/6 ( MS Dhoni (W) 27 , )

Bhuvi to complete his quota in the 19th over. Starts off with a half-volley well outside off, that he doesn’t quite connect to. MSD pulls the next one for a four towards the leg-side, and then goes on to smash a six in the fourth ball! That was short and along off, in the arc for Dhoni to go for one of his favourite shots. The officials then have to fetch for a new ball. SIX! Another full, wide delivery, and this time Dhoni times his lofted drive to perfection to send the ball sailing over the deep extra-cover boundary! Tiwary then is run-out in the last ball while coming back for a second run.

OUT! A nightmarish over by Bhuvneshwar ends on a positive note for the hosts, with Manoj Tiwary getting run-out in the last ball while trying to return for a second run. RPS 142/6 after 19 overs. 

Tiwary run-out (Warner) 9(5)

After 18 overs,Rising Pune Supergiant 123/5 ( MS Dhoni (W) 10 , Manoj Tiwary 8)

Rashid into his final over, it makes for some interesting battle between him and Dhoni in the last over. Keeps the batsmen guessing in the 18th over, giving away seven runs without conceding any boundaries.

Manoj Tiwary’s batting order numbers look like a lottery, so variable has it been. But with the three overseas batters dismissed one after the other, it’s once again up to him to give RPS something to bowl at. Having MS Dhoni for company doesn’t hurt.  

Most balls faced without scoring a boundary in an innings in IPL:

39 – STEVE SMITH, 2017*

35 – Ross Taylor, 2012

33 – Steve Smith, 2014

After 17 overs,Rising Pune Supergiant 116/5 ( MS Dhoni (W) 7 , Manoj Tiwary 5)

Bhuvneshwar Kumar brought back in the 17th over. Comical moment in the third ball, as Dhoni barely gets the ball airborne while trying a slog sweep, and gets an extra run after an needless throw at the non-striker’s stumps. Bhuvneshwar nearly runs Dhoni out in the fourth ball, after the latter runs quite some distance down the pitch. Tiwary gets his first boundary in the last delivery, slashing the short wide delivery away towards the backward point boundary.

After 16 overs,Rising Pune Supergiant 105/5 ( MS Dhoni (W) 2 , )

Kaul continues from the other end, bowling his third over. Massive heave by Dhoni, who got off the mark with a single in the previous over, in the second ball. Smith then perishes while looking to steer a full, wide delivery towards third man, but ends up offering Bipul a simple catch inside the circle. Sunrisers back in the game, and how! Daniel Christian walks out to bat after the timeout (called after the dismissal) and gets off the mark with a boundary in the first ball that he faces. And perishes in the very next delivery, getting a top-edge towards long-on, where Rashid holds on to a good catch. All eyes on Dhoni and new batsman Tiwary now.

OUT! And that’s the second wicket of the over for Kaul, as Christian perishes while going for a needless heave down the ground! Good catch by Rashid! Christian perishes right after getting off the mark wit a boundary in his first delivery. RPS 105/5

Christian c Rashid b Kaul 4(2)

The first four in the innings came only in the 14th over, although there were a few sixes before that.Those were from Stokes though. Smith was taking his time, scoring at less than an run a ball. He had been dropped twice in the innings, at short fine leg. Finally he has departed slashing one to short third man. 

Worst strike rates in IPL-10: (Min.150 Balls faced)

110.27 – MS Dhoni 

119.81 – Ajinkya Rahane

123.74 – Virat Kohli

OUT! Now it is Smith’s turn to head back to the dug-out/pavilion, this time steering a full, wide delivery straight to Bipul at short third man! That’s the second set batsman that Hyderabad manage to dismiss in a matter of a couple of overs! And the umpire signals for the timeout after the dismissal. RPS 101/4

Smith c Bipul b Kaul 34(39)

After 15 overs,Rising Pune Supergiant 100/3 ( Steven Smith (C) 34 , MS Dhoni (W) 1)

Rashid into his third over. Stokes survives in the 2nd ball, with a thick edge carrying to Ojha before brushing against his helmet grille (which would’ve disallowed the catch). More importantly, Ojha misses out on a stumping, reminiscent of Jadhav against KXIP on Friday. Stokes however, doesn’t last more than a delivery after that lifeline, as gets his leg-stump knocked over by Rashid, which brings Dhoni out to the centre,

OUT! Right after a missed stumping chance in the previous delivery, Rashid makes a comeback in the very next delivery by knocking Stokes’ leg-stump over! Stokes looked to slog this one towards the leg side, but the ball straightened after pitching along the leg-stump, and beat Stokes’ inside-edge. RPS 99/3

Stokes b Rashid 39(25)

After 14 overs,Rising Pune Supergiant 98/2 ( Steven Smith (C) 33 , Ben Stokes 39)

Kaul into his second over. The 50-stand comes up in the second ball of the over, as Stokes goes for a double. FOUR! Reverse-swept by Stokes off a pacer, and dispatches it towards the vacant backward point region. And that turns out to be the first four of this innings, coming after 13 overs and three deliveries! 12 off the over, with Stokes zooming ahead of Smith in no time.

Laxman on the sidelines saying that this wicket is not as slow as it seems. Yet a number of balls have hit the bottom and inside edges, and 150 160 score could be defended I feel. RPS have done well defending middling totals on slower pitches. But no team has beaten SRH at Hyderabad this season.

After 13 overs,Rising Pune Supergiant 86/2 ( Steven Smith (C) 31 , Ben Stokes 30)

SIX! Stokes rocks back on the backfoot, and launches the fourth ball of the 13th over towards the boundary between cow-corner and long-on. Couple of doubles run by Stokes in the last two balls of the over, with 13 coming off the over.

After 12 overs,Rising Pune Supergiant 73/2 ( Steven Smith (C) 29 , Ben Stokes 19)

Rashid into his second over. Stokes goes for a reverse sweep in the second ball of the over, but can’t get a run off it after it rolls straight to point. While Smith continues to bat steadily, Stokes is looking to go for the big shots, although he is not quite able to get the boundaries in this over as he did in the previous one.

Ajinkya Rahane’s average of 20.67 in IPL 10 is the lowest among all the batsmen who have scored atleast 150 runs. 

After 11 overs,Rising Pune Supergiant 68/2 ( Steven Smith (C) 25 , Ben Stokes 18)

Bipul into his third over, and he decides he’s waited enough. Decides to targt the left-arm spinner in this over, and hammers two huge sixes towards the leg side, timing his slogs to perfection.

After 10 overs,Rising Pune Supergiant 51/2 ( Steven Smith (C) 23 , Ben Stokes 3)

Runs coming in only trickles. This is looking like a ODI game in the 1990s. One run from the first three balls. Stokes quitely pushes one to long on for a single off the fourth ball off the over. With that the 50 up for Pune. It has taken a long. long time to come. 9.4 overs. The next ball is turned off his pads by Smith, but Bhuvi drops a catch at short fine leg. Another ’life’ for Smith. The ball just went through the hands of the fielder. Three runs from that over. At the halfway stage, Pune going at snail’s pace.

After 9 overs,Rising Pune Supergiant 48/2 ( Steven Smith (C) 21 , Ben Stokes 2)

Bipul bowls another tight over, with five coming off it, as the umpire calls for the timeout at the end of the ninth over. Pune are progressing rather slowly right now, and they will have to go for the big shots sooner than later, with the run-rate well below six at the moment. Captain Smith, on one hand, has adjusted well to the crease so far, and is batting on 21 at the moment.

After 8 overs,Rising Pune Supergiant 43/2 ( Steven Smith (C) 18 , Ben Stokes 1)

Henriques into is 2nd over (or a part of it, having bowled five deliveries in his previous over). Stokes is the new batsman out, and takes his time in assessing the conditions, and get used to the crease. Just three singles gathered in the over.

Before this game, Ajinkya Rahane had only three scores of over 20 in his last 10 games. That was being masked by  Tripathi’s form, but after this half century in the first game, he hasn’t made as big an impact.  

RPS just chugging along. Pitch looks slightly good for bowlers, a bit slow. So the acceleration will come later.

After 7 overs,Rising Pune Supergiant 40/2 ( Steven Smith (C) 16 , Ben Stokes 0)

Bipul introduced into the attack after powerplay, and he gets rid of Rahane before the latter could cause any more damage after smashing the first six of the innings in the previous over. Five runs and a wicket in this over, and the Sunrisers succeed in snapping any momentum that Pune might have gained after a good sixth over.

Least runs scored by Rising Pune Supergiant in powerplay overs in IPL-10:

35/1 v KXIP, Indore

35/1 v SRH, Hyderabad (RGS)

43/1 v RCB, Pune

43/4 v GL, Pune

48/0 v MI, Mumbai

OUT! And Bipul plays his part in another dismissal, this time with the ball, as Rahane tries sweeping tossed-up length delivery, and doesn’t get enough bat on it to get caught by Yuvraj at deep backward square-leg. Bipul thus makes up for the dropped chance of Smith. RPS 39/2

Rahane c Yuvraj b Bipul 22(20)

After 6 overs,Rising Pune Supergiant 35/1 ( Ajinkya Rahane 21 , Steven Smith (C) 12)

Final over of powerplay. Nehra starts off with a wide, adjusting his line after seeing Smith come down the track. Nehra appears to be struggling with some niggle in his hamstring, and is taken off the attack  after bowling just a delivery in this over. Rahane lobs the ball towards mid-on in a half-hearted on-drive, and nearly gets caught by the fielder. Connects his drive much better in the next delivery, and smacks it high over the long-on boundary this time. Much better over for RPS, with 11 coming off it, though they still are progressing very slowly at the moment.

A sedate start from RPS, quite a contrast from their last game, where they scored 74 in the powerplay. The first boundary of the powerplay came in the sixth over. How often has that happened?

The batters seem to be trying to size up the pitch, and see off SRH’s best bowler Bhuvaneshwar Kumar. Both Rahane and Smith have had a reprieve, so they will be keen to make the most of that.

After 5 overs,Rising Pune Supergiant 24/1 ( Ajinkya Rahane 13 , Steven Smith (C) 10)

Rashid Khan is introduced into the attack as early as the fifth over. Five singles off the over, with Pune getting off to a slow and unsteady start in their innings.

After 4 overs,Rising Pune Supergiant 19/1 ( Ajinkya Rahane 11 , Steven Smith (C) 7)

Smith flicks a back-of-length delivery towards the leg side, and that would have been the first boundary of the match had it not been for the efforts of an athletic Rashid at backward square-leg. DROPPED! Smith tries a similar short in the fourth delivery of the over, and hits it straight down Bipul’s throat at short fine-leg — except Bipul undoes all the good work in the run-out earlier by putting down an easy chance, and letting go of Smith on 5. Let’ see how costly that proves for SRH later in the match.

After 3 overs,Rising Pune Supergiant 12/1 ( Ajinkya Rahane 8 , Steven Smith (C) 3)

Rahane and Smith adopt the defensive approach at the moment, rotating the strike between themselves by grabbing a single per delivery. Looks like utilising the fielding restrictions for boundaries can wait for a while after the early dismissal.

In his last 9 games, Rahul Tripathi had crossed 30 seven times. Both times he didn’t , he has been run out off a poor call. So the bowlers still haven’t figured out how to get him out cheaply.  

Nonetheless, huge wicket for SRH.

After 2 overs,Rising Pune Supergiant 6/1 ( Ajinkya Rahane 5 , Steven Smith (C) 0)

Nehra bowling from the other end. Couple of runs collected at the start of the over by Rahane. Tripathi is tied up at the striker’s end while trying to go for the shots, and is well outside his crease in the penultimate delivery when a direct hit by Bipul from short fine-leg sends his off-stump cart-wheeling. Captain Steve Smith finds himself at the crease earlier than expected.

OUT! What a direct hit by Bipul from short fine-leg, with Tripathi well outside his crease as the stump gets knocked over! RPS 6/1

Tripathi run out (Bipul) 1(4)

After 1 overs,Rising Pune Supergiant 3/0 ( Ajinkya Rahane 2 , Rahul Tripathi 1)

Both Rahane and Tripathi get off the mark with singles in the first over of the innings. Rahane keeps the strike for the next over by guiding the last ball of the over towards third man, and collecting a single for it.

The players walk out to the field at the start of the innings, with Ajinkya Rahane and Rahul Tripathi opening the innings for RPS. Bhuvneshwar to bowl the first over for SRH.

IPL 2017: When and where to watch SRH vs RPS, coverage on TV and live streaming on Hotstarhttp://www.firstpost.com

Against the ‘Orange Army’ at their home ground, Rising Pune Supergiant have gone in unchanged once again. It’s a clash between two teams that are in contention for the playoffs, and so there is much on the line. Heat will certainly be a factor today, with temperature around 40 degrees. 

Sunrisers Hyderabad have not lost a match at Hyderabad (RGS) in this IPL yet. They have played five matches at the venue in IPL 10. On the other hand, their record against Rising Pune Supergiant in IPL is 1-2.

Rahul Tripathi’s strike rate of 155.07 in this IPL is the second best among all the batsmen who have scored atleast 300 runs in this IPL. He has amassed 353 runs from nine innings at an average of 39.11 in this IPL so far. 

Bhuvneshwar Kumar has taken 26 wickets at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad in IPL from 22 matches which is the second most by any bowler at the venue. Moreover, he is the leading wicket-taker in this ongoing IPL.

Rising Pune Supergiant XI: Ajinkya Rahane, Rahul Tripathi, Steve Smith (c), Manoj Tiwary, Ben Stokes, MS Dhoni, Daniel Christian, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jaydev Unadkat, Imran Tahir.

The team remains unchanged after their four wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in their last outing.

Sunrisers Hyderabad team: David Warner (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Kane Williamson, Yuvraj Singh, Moises Henriques, Naman Ojha, Bipul Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rashid Khan, Siddharth Kaul, Ashish Nehra. 

Two changes in the home team — Ashish Nehra and Bipul Sharma come in place of Mohammed Siraj and Deepak Hooda.

TOSS: Sunrisers Hyderabad win the toss, and skipper David Warner elects to field first!

Hello and welcome to Firstpost’s live coverage of Match 44 of IPL 2017, with Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) taking on Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) at the Rajivb Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.