Despite Dhruv Jurel’s late surge, Rajasthan Royals lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad by 36 runs in the Indian Premier League 2024 Qualifier 2 match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Friday.
Jurel top-scored in the contest with an unbeaten 56 off 35 balls, which included two sixes and seven fours, as the Royals could only aggregate 139/7 with Shahbaz Ahmed picking up three wickets for the Sunrisers.
Earlier, Avesh Khan finished with 3/27 and Trent Boult picked up 3/45 for the Royals as SRH ended their batting essay at 175/9. Heinrich Klaasen made 50 off 34 balls with Sandeep Sharma also chipping in with two wickets.
Bowling first, it was business as usual for Boult as he picked up a wicket in the first over for the seventh time in IPL 2024. The left-arm pacer got two more wickets in his third over, to swell his powerplay tally to 12 this year, as SRH reached 68/3 after the first six overs.
The Royals’ bowlers tightened the screws in the middle overs conceding just 28 runs in six overs, picking up three wickets. Avesh played a key role once again, picking up two wickets in the 14th over putting SRH on the backfoot as they reeled at 120/6.
Sandeep took the most important wicket of the night for the Royals when he castled the dangerous-looking Klaasen with a beautiful yorker. Boult and Avesh picked up three wickets each with Sandeep getting two as the Royals were set a target of 176.
The Royals started cautiously before Yashasvi Jaiswal opened up, scoring three fours and a six off Bhuvneshwar Kumar to take the team past the 50-run mark in the last over of the powerplay.
Once Jaiswal departed for a 21-ball 42, which included three sixes and four boundaries, the Royals endured a tough middle phase. They lost four more wickets and managed only 42 runs in the next eight overs with 83 needed off the last six.
Jurel and Rovman Powell offered some resistance with a 32-run partnership for the seventh wicket but once Powell departed the Royals were out of the game.
SRH vs RR IPL 2024 Qualifier 2 brief scores: Sunrisers Hyderabad 175/9 (Heinrich Klaasen 50, Rahul Tripathi 37, Avesh Khan 3/27, Trent Boult 3/45) Rajasthan Royals 139/7 (Dhruv Jurel 56*, Yashasvi Jaiswal 42, Shahbaz Ahmed 3/23). Get the full SRH vs RR score here.
