Pandey scored an unbeaten knock of 83 to take Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) to victory.
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) broke their streak of losing 3 consecutive games after edging out the Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Thursday, October 22. The bowlers did an excellent job to restrict RR to 154/6 before Manish Pandey and Vijay Shankar scored unbeaten half-centuries to win the game by 8 wickets.
Man of the Match, Manish Pandey finally found some form in IPL 2020 after going through a lean patch in the tournament so far. The innings couldn't have been timed better by the Karnataka batsman as the Sunrisers sincerely needed a win and had lost their openers early in the chase. The 31-year-old scored 83 not out off just 47 balls with 4 fours and 8 sixes.
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Pandey said in the post-match presentation ceremony, "High time for the top 3 to perform. I just wanted to stay at the crease and play my shots. Really happy that it came off today. We (Vijay and him) had the opportunity to win the game for SRH, really happy I'm standing here."
Some believe that the plan to replace Jofra Archer after he had picked two early wickets brought the downfall for RR. He could've got yet another wicket and broken the backbone of the run-chase is the opinion of some. However, Pandey revealed that they had decided to see Archer off and attack the Indian leggies Shreyas Gopal and Rahul Tewatia.
"We had plans to see Jofra off. We had a plan to take on the leggies and Indian bowlers, and it paid off. The first ball I middle through covers and I tried to keep my shape. I was hitting it well and I tried to get my team over the line," he added.
The Sunrisers are now placed at the 5th position in the points table with 8 points in 10 games.
(With inputs from ANI)