SRH scored just 14 runs for the loss of three wickets in power play.
Rajasthan Royals defeated the Sunrisers Hyderabad by 61 runs in their opening game of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Tuesday (March 29). SRH chased a massive 211 run goal and could only score 149 runs for the loss of seven wickets in their 20 overs. They were in such a bad position before that their final score is also huge, as they were 37/5 in the 11th left of their innings.
It all started with their skipper Kane Williamson controversially getting away from Prasidh Krishna talking the ball, generating extra bounce and movement off the pitch. He and Trent Boult didn’t concede any limits in the first 4.5 overs. When Boult pinned Nicholas Pooran for the stumps, SRH’s score read a mediocre 9/3.
There was no discharge from the Royals’ bowlers at any stage in the first six overs, as the Sunrisers could only accumulate 14 runs in the power play. They recorded the collective lowest power play score ever in IPL history, equal to Rajasthan Royals‘ score of 14/2 back in the 2009 season. The next three low scores are from CSK in the 2011, 2015 and 2019 seasons, respectively.
Markram and Sundar save the day for SRH
Things were going so badly for SRH that at one point it felt like they were going to lose by over 100 runs. Aiden Markram, Romario Shepherd and Washington Sundar, however, all made it to a respectable score by the end of the 20th. Instead, the three batters did extremely well, hitting six maximums and 10 fours in between.
Sundar took over for Nathan Coulter-Nile and knocked him out for 24 runs in a single, while Markram also showed his decisiveness and scored a valiant 57* on 41 deliveries. SRH went on to finish at 149 runs for the loss of seven wickets to lose by 61, which is still a huge margin in the shortest format, but it could have been worse for them.
Meanwhile, Twitter wasn’t happy with their at bat in the power playovers, and they rostered the Orange Army for the same reason.
Here’s how Twitter responded:
SRH plays like they did on the auction table. #SRHvRR #IPL2022
— Hardik Bhatia {Wear a mask, take the vaccine} (@nameisnotpunny) March 29, 2022
SRH match days are IPL . Mondays
— Iyer fan (@Gabba_Merchant) March 29, 2022
SRH should play for a draw here, will give them points in the WTC points table and strong play-off qualifying opportunities for captain Kane.#IPL2022
— Neelabh (@CricNeelabh) March 29, 2022
Lowest Powerplay Total in IPL:
14/3 – SRH v RR in Pune, 2022
14/2 – RR against RCB in Cape Town, 2009
15/2 – CSK v KKR in Kolkata, 2011
16/1 – CSK v DC in Raipur, 2015
16/1 – CSK v RCB in Chennai, 2019#SRH #RR #IPL2022— CricTracker (@Cricketracker) March 29, 2022
SRH is really the most boring IPL team and also plays boeing.
— Amri (@luciferxstarboy) March 29, 2022
Once upon a time, SRH took the credit for their bowling unit too seriously and forgot about hitting.
— Silly Point (@FarziCricketer) March 29, 2022
SRH wale test league samjh ke aaye hai
— 🄻🅂🄶 // 🄼🄸 (@Akshay_Brigade) March 29, 2022
#SRHvRR #SRH #RR pic.twitter.com/OfueXLQOMR
— Bhakt of GOD (@bhakt_always) March 29, 2022
#SRH Batter when boult and prasidh are bowling #RRvsSRH #hallabol pic.twitter.com/NF7UNn4t0f
— AJ (@theamarjeet) March 29, 2022
Huge disappointment with SRH’s performance today..#SRHvRR
— అᶜˢᵏ|ˢʳʰ (@aparnatarakhere) March 29, 2022