Royals managed to post 242/6 in their allotted 20 overs, losing the match by 44 runs.
Rajasthan Royals (RR) suffered a crushing 44-run defeat in their Indian Premier Leaue (IPL) 2025 opener against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Sunday (March 23).
Invited to bat first, SRH racked up a mammoth 286/6 on the board. Ishan Kishan starred with the bat with a jaw-dropping century (106* off 47) while Travis Head (67 off 31), Heinrich Klaasen (34 off 14) and Nitish Reddy (30 off 15) made vital contributions.
Chasing the target, RR batters also made the most of the flat Hyderabad pitch, with half-centuries from Sanju Samson (66 off 37), Dhruv Jurel (70 off 35) and quick cameos from Shubham Dubey (34 off 11) and Shimron Hetmyer (42 off 23). However, it wasn’t quite enough as SRH managed to restrict the Royals to 242/6.
After the game, RR’s stand-in skipper Riyan Parag admitted that his side could have "executed" better during the daunting run chase against SRH.
"It was tough, just like I expected. Credit to SRH, but we could have executed it better. Will have a sit-down and chat about what we could have done better," Parag said in the post-match presentation.
Considering Hyderabad's placid batting turf, Parag decided to bowl first after winning the toss, which he felt was the "right" call.
"I feel collectively, we took that decision, it was the right decision, but it was about executing better," Parag said when asked about his decision at the time of the toss.
"You'd mind if 280 is on the board? At the toss, I said 200 was what I expected, but 220-240 would have been a good score to chase down," he added.
Despite the defeat, Parag counted on quite a few positives for the Royals in their campaign opener in Hyderabad.
"Quite a few positives, the way Dhruv and Sanju batted was brilliant. And then Hettie and Shubham later on. Tushar bowled really well, and Sandy (Sandeep) Paaji did well. A win or a loss, we take the learnings, and then we forget," he concluded.
(With ANI Inputs)