Rajasthan Royals (RR) suffered an agonizing one-run defeat at the hands of Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Match 50 of the IPL 2024 season at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad on Thursday (May 2).
Chasing 202 to win, RR lost Jos Buttler and Sanju Samson for a duck in the very first over. However, the duo of Yashasvi Jaiswal (67 off 40) and Riyan Parag (77 off 49) added 134 runs for the third wicket to bring the visitors back in the contest.
After their dismissals in quick succession, Shimron Hetmyer (13 off 9) and Rovman Powell (27 off 15) produced crucial cameos but Bhuvneshwar Kumar (3/41) held his nerves in the final over while defending 13 runs to take SRH over the line.
Following the match, RR skipper Sanju Samson said that they have played a few close games this season and have been on the winning side but failed to seal the deal on this occasion. He also praised the SRH bowlers as they managed to keep the scoring rate at exactly 10 runs an over until the final over.
“We have really played some close games and won a couple of them. Lost one here, and we have to give credit to the SRH bowlers. We were going at 10 per over till the last over,” quoted Samson in the post-match interaction.
“Margin for error is very less in the IPL and you have to give SRH credit. Knowing the nature of the IPL, you never win the game until you actually win the game,” he added.
Samson said it was tough to bat against the new ball while he also lauded Jaiswal and Parag for their valiant knocks.
“It was very tough to bat on with the new ball. We bowled well in the powerplay. When the ball got old, it was easier to bat and they capitalised really well,” the RR captain remarked.
“You have to give credit to both youngsters. They took care of the innings, played responsibility to get there. You tend to take those chances and you tend to get out also. They played really well,” he further stated.
Despite the narrow loss, Rajasthan Royals maintained the top position in the 10-team points table. It was only their second defeat in 10 games so far this season.
Rajasthan Royals will next face Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Tuesday (May 7).
(With inputs from Agencies)
