IPL 2018, RR vs SRH: 5 talking points

Sunrisers Hyderabad inched a place closer to the playoffs by beating Rajasthan Royals by 11 runs at Jaipur. Batting first, Sunrisers Hyderabad posted 151 on the board thanks to skipper Kane Williamson's 63 and Alex Hales' 45.

In reply, RR could only score 140/6 with Ajinkya Rahane scoring a 53-ball 65. SRH's bowling was sensational throughout the match with Sandeep Sharma conceding just 15 runs from his four overs. Siddarth Kaul also bowled an impressive spell of 2/23 from his four overs.

The win took SRH to the top position in the table while RR remains 5th. Here are 5 talking points of the match.

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#5 Jofra Archer producing another brilliant performance with the ball

Jofra Archer began his IPL 2018 campaign by bowling a spell of 3/23 against Mumbai Indians which won him the Man of the Match award. Today, he bowled another fantastic spell.

In his first over, Archer gave away 7 runs and could have gotten an extremely important wicket if it wasn't for a drop which we will be discussing later.

Except for a six by Kane Williamson, Archer's second over was pretty good and he conceded 8 runs from it. Archer's third over was excellent as he conceded only 4 runs and took the wickets of Shakib al Hasan and Yusuf Pathan.

Archer conceded 7 runs in his final over and took the wicket of Rashid Khan. He ended his spell with 3/26.

Having bowled two consecutive brilliant spells, Jofra Archer will be expected to bowl similar spells in further matches as Rajasthan Royals look to keep their playoff chances alive.

#4 Alex Hales gives a pretty decent performance in his IPL debut

Hales scored 45

Alex Hales was roped in by Sunrisers Hyderabad as a replacement for David Warner. Hales made his first appearance for the team today which was also his IPL debut.

Hales played a pretty decent innings, scoring 45 from 39 balls. Hales hit four boundaries as he and Kane Williamson added 92 for the second wicket from 68 balls. He was eventually dismissed by K Gowtham in the 14th over thanks to a simple catch by Sanju Samson at point.

The 29-year-old also took the catch to dismiss Sanju Samson who was looking in good touch.

Having had a pretty decent IPL debut, Alex Hales will certainly be considered for SRH's remaining 6 matches as they look to strengthen their position in the IPL table.

#3 Most of the RR middle order messed up

Ben Stokes scored a duck

Rajasthan Royals were off to a disappointing start in their run chase as they lost opener Rahul Tripathi early. However, skipper Ajinkya Rahane and Sanju Samson held the innings together by adding 59 runs from 44 deliveries for the 2nd wicket.

After Samson was dismissed, the other middle order batsmen needed to and were expected to provide ample support to Ajinkya Rahane. Unfortunately, the exact opposite happened.

Ben Stokes was bowled for a duck and Jos Buttler scored just 10 from 11 deliveries. Rahane was the only person who was fighting to keep RR in the chase. The likes of Mahipal Lomror and K Gowtham also perished for low scores.

This dismal performance of the RR middle order was one of the primitive contributing factors to their defeat. Provided the middle-order continue to perform like this then Rajasthan Royals will have a tough time keeping their playoff hopes alive.

#2 Rahul Tripathi's drop proves to be extremely costly

Rahul Tripathi dropped a sitter

During the fifth over, Kane Williamson scored a boundary of the second delivery which took him to 11.

In the third delivery, Jofra Archer bowled a length ball which Williamson edged to Rahul Tripathi at slip.Tripathi wasn't able to hold on to the ball and did some juggling before dropping it. Jofra Archer was livid at Tripathi for missing a simple attempt.

Tripathi's drop cost RR 52 extra runs. Had he taken the catch, then Sunrisers might not have scored 151 and the outcome of the match may have been different.

#1 Both captains batted brilliantly

Williamson scored a brilliant 63

Both the captains played really well today. For SRH, Kane Williamson bettered SRH's position after they lost Shikhar Dhawan early. The Kiwi skipper played some brilliant shots as he went on to score 63 from 43 deliveries. His 63 helped SRH reach 151.

Ajinkya Rahane also batted pretty well today, scoring an unbeaten 65 from 53 deliveries as he hit 5 boundaries and a six. However, Rahane did not get much support from his fellow batsmen apart from Sanju Samson. Hence, RR eventually fell short by 11 runs.

Nevertheless, both captains did pretty good with the bat and can be expected to produce similar performances in the upcoming matches.

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