Prasidh Krishna returned with the figures of 2 for 16 in his four overs.
Asked to bat first, the Royals piled up a massive 210/6 in their 20 overs on the back of skipper Sanju Samson’s 27-ball 55 and notable contributions from Devdutt Padikkal (41 off 29 balls), Jos Buttler (35 off 28 balls), and Shimron Hetmyer (32 off 13 balls).
In reply, the Sunrisers were reduced to 37/5 at one stage as RR bowlers ran through their top order. The duo of Aiden Markram (57*) and Washington Sundar (40) produced quality knocks but it could take SRH to only 149/7 in 20 overs.
Wrist-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal (3-22) and pacers Prasidh Krishna (2-16), Trent Boult (2-23) starred with the ball for Rajasthan Royals.
After the game, former India head coach Ravi Shastri lauded RR’s clinical performance and he reserved special praise for young quick Krishna.
“He was relentless. If you’re bowling at lengths, the hard lengths, when you beat the bat and get the edges, you expect some odd ball (that may go loose). But he was mean, he gave nothing,” Shastri said on Star Sports’ post-match show.
“He made sure the batsmen have their driving licenses in their pockets. He said ‘I don’t want to see your driving licenses, I don’t want to give you anything on the bat. I’m going to ping you on the backfoot and get you out’.”
Shastri was impressed to see the way Prasidh Krishna banged the ball to get the prize scalp of SRH skipper Kane Williamson.
“Look at the way he got Williamson out. (Usually, bowlers would go) Top of off-stump, get the nick. He knew there was bounce there, and he said ‘I’ll take that nick to a foot-and-a-half, top of off-stump’. He’s got the height, he’s got the wrist and he’s got the seam coming out high. Good to see an Indian banging it in against a world-class player,” said Shastri.