IPL: Ishan Kishan’s blazing ton sets up 44-run win for Sunrisers Hyderabad against Rajasthan Royals
Royals' gamble of putting Sunrisers in to bat backfired completely in the face of Ishan’s onslaught as it scored 286 for six in 20 overs
HYDERABAD: Ishan Kishan’s maiden IPL century (106 not out, 47b, 11×4, 6×6) and on debut for Sunrisers Hyderabad scripted the home team’s 44-run win against Rajasthan Royals in its first league match of the season at Rajiv Gandhi Stadium here on Sunday.
Royals’ gamble of putting Sunrisers in to bat backfired completely in the face of Ishan’s onslaught as it scored 286 for six in 20 overs.
It was a class act from Ishan Kishan, and his animated celebrations on reaching the magical, 45-ball, three-figure mark were perhaps a reminder that he meant business.
And, at one stage, it looked as if Sunrisers would breach the much-talked about 300-mark in its very first match of the season itself!
Opener Travis Head (67, 31b, 9×4, 3×6) was at his sparkling best, picking the pace ace Jofra Archer for rough treatment in his first over – hitting four fours and a huge six over square-leg into the stands.
The Australian star batter was in his element before being deceived by a change of pace by Tushar Deshpande in his first over when he ended up hitting straight to mid-off.
There were useful contributions from opener Abhishek Sharma at the top, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Heinrich Klaasen, but it was Ishan Kishan’s show all the way on yet another perfect batting wicket. His three sixes in one over off Jofra Archer were just stunning.
Ishan completed the century in style with two consecutive pulls over the boundary and a brace off Sandeep Sharma to reach the landmark in the 19th over.
Archer finished with the most expensive spell (4-0-76-0)in IPL history.
And, Royals was rocked early on by pacer Simarjeet Singh’s double blow in the second over of the innings when Yashasvi Jaiswal (1) and captain Riyan Parag (4) were dismissed cheaply.
Impact Player Sanju Samson (66, 37b, 7×4, 4×6) and Dhruv Jurel (70, 35b, 5×4, 6×6) put on 111 runs for the fourth wicket with some brilliant stroke selection to raise some hopes of a dramatic finish.
But, once both of them were out in quick succession, first Samson mistiming a pull stroke off pacer Harshal Patel and then Jurel holing out to the fielder in the deep of Impact Player and leggie Adam Zampa, it was obvious that the target was too daunting to chase down.
