The fifth match of the IPL 2022 between Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) hogged the limelight for a controversial decision, involving Kane Williamson.
During the second over of the match, Prasidh Krishna produced a stunning delivery that deceived Williamson as he edged the ball behind stumps where Sanju Samson tried to take the catch but only managed to get a glove on it. The ball bounced after hitting Samson’s gloves and Devdutt Padikkal grabbed it diving forward at first slip.
The on-field umpire wasn’t sure whether the catch was clean or not and, thus, he went upstairs. After watching the replay, third umpire KN Anantha quickly gave Williamson out even though it appeared that the ball had bounced before Padikkal plucked it.
The TV umpire is now facing a lot of scrutiny for his controversial call which resulted in Williamson’s dismissal for 2.
SRH head coach Tom Moody expressed his shock over Williamson's controversial dismissal and said that his team was surprised by it.
"We were very surprised that it was given out, particularly when we saw the replay. I can understand the on-field umpires taking it upstairs, and when that happened and we saw the evidence. We’re certainly not umpires, but it looked pretty clear to us what the decision was," Moody said in the post-match presser.
“Look, we played one game. We recognized that Washington is an outstanding all-rounder, hence we were excited to get him in the mega auction. We anticipate that over time he’s gonna play a significant role with bat and ball. At the moment, with the balance of the side, he was positioned at No. 8 but that's certainly not the permanent position for him," he added.
Tom Moody had special praise reserved for Washington Sundar, who produced a blistering knock of 14-ball 40.
“We have got an open mind as to where he is going to end up over time, whether it's this season or seasons to come. We recognise there is some real quality there.”
Sunrisers Hyderabad conceded 14 extras in their season opener and Moody called it unacceptable.
“It’s unacceptable. In this form of the game you get heavily penalised, and we paid the price. When you dismiss arguably the opposition’s best player, and you have them on edge at the beginning of their innings.”
“Bhuvneshwar was bowling particularly well, and I thought Shepherd’s first over was also a strong over. It totally sets a different tone when you’ve taken that wicket, the ball’s still moving around.”
“It wasn’t an easy new ball wicket, but we didn’t take advantage of that. Once you give a life to someone of Jos Buttler’s quality, he’ll bring out all his tricks and realise that he’s on a free one.”
“Four no-balls, a no-ball wicket, and a dropped catch in the first five overs, and a total of six wides cost us the game,” the coach said.
Coming to the match, SRH suffered a humiliating 61-run defeat at the hands of RR in their IPL 2022 opener at the MCA Stadium in Pune.
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 could only manage 149/7 in 20 overs. Aiden Markram was the top scorer with 41-ball 57* while other batters faltered during the chase.
(With India Today inputs)
