IPL 2020: Match 26: Tewatia does it again for Rajasthan Royals

Rajasthan Royals lost 4 matches on the trot and they desperately wanted to come back to winning ways when they met Sunrisers Hyderabad earlier today in Dubai. Sunrisers Hyderabad was slow off their blocks this year but came roaring back with an easy victory against Kings XI Punjab a few days back. With the Bairstow-Warner partnership back amongst the runs, it looked like the team from Hyderabad having their noses in front today. Rajasthan Royals got their talismanic all-rounder, Ben Stokes back amongst the playing XI expecting a change of fortunes.

So how did it go today?

Here are my 5 points highlights from the match.

1. Manish Pandey

Manish Pandey is one of those unlucky cricketers who didn’t get a long run in International cricket due to his injuries at inopportune moments. He has been in good form this season but didn’t get any big runs yet. Today with Bairstow getting out quickly, with the Rajasthan bowlers bowling tightly, Manish along with Warner stitched a good partnership ensuring that the Royals didn’t get a look into the inexperienced Surisers’ Middle Order. He finished with 54 and was the highest scorer of his team. That Sunrisers couldn’t score a big enough total has to go down to the inexperience that the team has in the middle order.

2. Jofra Archer

Jofra Archer hardly gets hit around the park and it was no different today. What Rajasthan Royals needed though were wickets from him which didn’t happen today. This year he has got a special liking for Warner though by getting his wickets many times in the recently concluded series in England and keeping that intact he got Warner’s wicket today too. 14 off the 24 balls that he bowled were dot balls shows the impact that he had in the match for Rajasthan Royals.

3. Rashid Khan

Can you keep Rashid Khan out of an IPL match? Definitely no. Rajasthan Royals didn’t get a good start today and their 3 experienced foreign players got out within 4 overs and the score read 3/26 after 4 overs. With Sanju Samson getting back into form and Uthappa starting well it looked like Rajasthan Royals were getting out of the rut when Rashid Khan struck crucial blows by picking up both of them to push them to the brink. With the score reading 78/5 after 12 overs it looked like game over for Rajasthan Royals. That he couldn’t close the game for Sunrisers in the 18th over must be hurting him very much.

4. Rahul Tewatia

Rahul Tewatia became a household name in India after his match-winning innings against Kings XI a couple of weeks back. He has enhanced his reputation since though not setting the stage on fire. Today he was back in action again. The 18th over bowled by Rashid Khan was the key one. With 36 runs needed of 3 overs, Warner hoped that Rashid Khan would get him a wicket and keep the over tight to increase the pressure but what happened was exactly the opposite. Tewatia hit him for 3 consecutive fours with some audacious reverse sweeps and brought the equation in Rajasthan Royals’ favour. He was not finished though because in the next over bowled by Natarajan he nailed a four and a six in consecutive balls to turn the match completely on its head. Not surprisingly he won the man of the match today.

5. Rayan Parag

I really liked Rayan Parag’s batting last year and I was so hoping for some great batting from him this year. But he utterly disappointed and subsequently got dropped. Good that Rajasthan Royals gave him an opportunity today because though people will remember Tewatia for his hitting but it was Rayan Parag who was the initial aggressor when Tewatia was playing second fiddle. He finished the match with a six off Khaleel Ahmed and gave Rajasthan Royals an unlikely victory. His Bihu dance after hitting the six was something that was enjoyable too. These moments make IPL a great tournament, isn’t it?

A great come from behind victory for the Royals to keep them in the hunt. With Ben Stokes just coming in, this team has all the talent to reach the top 4. What they need though is a consistent Sanju Samson.

What went wrong for Sunrisers? For me, I think their fielding let them down. Both Parag and Tewatia must have been out long back if only the fielding would have been better. They have themselves to blame for losing this one.

What do you think?

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