Half-centuries from Jason Roy and Kane Williamson powered Sunrisers Hyderabad to a 7-wicket win against Rajasthan Royals in an Indian Premier League match in Dubai on Monday.
Williamson remained unbeaten on 51 off 41 balls after Jason Roy had set the foundation with a 42-ball 60 as the Sunrisers chased down a target of 165 runs in the 19th over.
Earlier, Rajasthan skipper Sanju Samson smashed a 57-ball 82 to give them a fighting total of 164/5. Sanju had won the toss and sent in Evin Lewis to open with Yashasvi Jaiswal.
After the West Indies batter's early dismissal, by Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Sanju and Jaiswal kept the runs flowing.
Jaiswal, who survived a dropped catch early on, went on to make 36 off 23. Thereafter, it was a Sanju show on offer.
Until his dismissal, in the final over, with a poorly timed shot finding Jason Holder at long-on, Sanju had maintained a steady run rate. He was assisted by Mahipal Lomror, who made 29 off 28.
For Sunrisers, Siddarth Kaul bagged two wickets.
Earlier, both the Royals and Sunrisers had made several high-profile changes, some forced, and others were presumably tactical.
Jason Roy made his Sunrisers debut as he took the place of David Warner while Manish Pandey and Kedar Jadhav made way for Priyam Garg and Abhishek Sharma. Siddharth Kaul was included in the Royals' bowling department.
As for Sanju Samon's side, the return of Chris Morris should lift their spirits while losing Kartik Tyagi over fitness issues could be worrying. Evin Lews was also back in the mix for the Royals while David Miller and his compatriot Tabrazi Shamsi made way.
Scoreboard:
Rajasthan Royals: Evin Lewis c Abdul Samad b Bhuvneshwar Kumar 6
Yashasvi Jaiswal b Sandeep Sharma 36
Sanju Samson c Jason Holder b Siddarth Kaul 82
Liam Livingstone c Abdul Samad b Rashid Khan 4
Mahipal Lomror Not Out 29
Riyan Parag c Jason Roy b Siddarth Kaul 0
Rahul Tewatia Not Out 0
Extras 1b 3lb 0nb 0pen 3w 7
Total (20.0 overs) 164-5
Fall of Wickets : 1-11 Lewis, 2-67 Jaiswal, 3-77 Livingstone, 4-161 Samson, 5-162 Das
Bowling:
Sandeep Sharma 3-0-30-1
Bhuvneshwar Kumar 4-1-28-1
Jason Holder 4-0-27-0
Siddarth Kaul 4-0-36-2
Rashid Khan 4-0-31-1
Abhishek Sharma 1-0-8-0
Sunrisers Hyderabad:
Jason Roy c Sanju Samson b Chetan Sakariya 60
Wriddhiman Saha st Sanju Samson b Mahipal Lomror 18
Kane Williamson Not Out 51
Priyam Garg c&b Mustafizur Rahman 0
Abhishek Sharma Not Out 21
Extras 4b 4lb 0nb 0pen 9w 17
Total (18.3 overs) 167-3
Fall of Wickets : 1-57 Saha, 2-114 Roy, 3-119 Garg
Bowling:
Jaydev Unadkat 2-0-20-0
Chris Morris 3-0-27-0
Mustafizur Rahman 3.3-0-26-1
Mahipal Lomror 3-0-22-1
Rahul Tewatia 3-0-32-0
Chetan Sakariya 4-0-32-1
