Sunrisers restrict Royals to 125/9 with disciplined bowling show

The Sunrisers Hyderabad produced a disciplined bowling display to restrict Rajasthan Royals to a paltry 125 for 9 in their opening match of the IPL-11 here today.

The home side bowlers justified captain Kane Williamson's decision to put the opposition in after winning the toss as the Royals struggled to score runs on a pitch which got the turn as the match wore on.

The Royals could not build partnerships and they crumbled under the pressure of a disciplined bowling attack of the Sunrisers.

Sanju Samson top-scored with a 42-ball 49 and his 46-run stand with captain Ajinkya Rahane (13) for the second wicket was the highest partnership for the Royals. One-down Samson looked like he would anchor the innings after Rahane was out early but he also got dismissed in the 14th over when he was just one run short of a half century.

For the Sunrisers, which have one of the best bowling units in this IPL, Shakib Al Hasan and Siddhart Kaul grabbed two wickets apiece while Afghan leg-spinner Rashid Khan, Australian pacer Billy Stanlake and Bhuvneshwar got one wicket each.

The Sunrisers got immediate success after the start of the match as the Royals' opening batsman D Arcy Short was caught short of his crease with Williamson's rocket throw from the mid-off rattled the wickets in the final ball of Bhuvneshwar Kumar's opening over.

Rahane, who was captaining the Royals after disgraced former Australia skipper Steve Smith was barred by the BCCI from taking part in the IPL, got out in a wrong time as he was caught by Rashid at deep off the bowling of Kaul.

A miserly over from Rashid was followed by Ben Stokes' (5) dismissal off Stanlake as the Royals were 71 for 3 at the halfway mark.

Samson, meanwhile, was going steady for some time but wickets fell at the other end. Rahul Tripathi (17) gave him some company but did not last long as he became Shakib's first victim.

Samson himself followed suit three balls later, giving Shakib his second wicket of the night and at that stage the Royals innings was in tatters.

Krishnappa Gowtham could not open his account from the two balls he faced and fell victim of Kaul. Englishman Jos Butler was left to add some runs to the Royals kitty but he too could score just six from nine balls.