Against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Match 2 of the upcoming Indian Premier League 2025 (IPL), Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) displayed a strong batting effort. Despite losing six wickets in their allotted 20 overs, SRH amassed a massive 286 runs after being asked to bat first.
The famous Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad hosted the game on Sunday, March 23, for those who were not familiar with it. Following Sanju Samson’s absence from the starting lineup due to a finger injury that would have compromised his wicketkeeping responsibilities, RR named the youthful Riyan Parag as their interim captain. SRH began their IPL season with their normal captain Pat Cummins.
Talking Points
1. Kishan’s maiden IPL century, IPL’s 2nd highest team total
Hyderabad got off to an explosive start with openers Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head taking on the bowlers in the powerplay phases. After losing Sharma on the score of 45, Head did what he is known for which is to keep playing fearlessly. As a result, he started the IPL 2025 season with a half-century (67 off 31 balls).
From the other end, Ishan Kishan, who was featuring in his debut match for the Hyderabad-based franchise, continued the attack ahead and played some magnificent shots en route to a memorable unbeaten maiden IPL century (106* off 47 balls) both for himself and the new franchise. As a result, SRH gave a gigantic target of 287 runs, which interestingly is also their highest team total in the IPL.
2. Archer bowls most expensive spell of IPL history
The Rajasthan bowlers looked helpless with the way the pitch turned out to be an absolute batting belter. They continued to suffer, in particular, pacer Jofra Archer, who uncharacteristically went on to concede 76 runs and registered his name against an unwanted record. The record is now with Archer for becoming the bowler with the most expensive bowling spell in the IPL league history. Notably, he surpassed Basil Thampi, who earlier held the unwanted record.
3. Samson-Jurel’s valiant knocks in vain
The decision to bowl first backfired in a big way with the way Rajasthan batters started their innings. Getting submerged under a mammoth target, they had no choice but to try to play a counter-attacking style of cricket in a bid to deal with the pressure of the run chase. In the aftermath, they lost some wickets in quick succession as they were 50/3 in the fifth over.
Surprisingly, Sanju Samson (66 runs off 37 balls), who came out to bat as the ‘Impact player’, took the responsibility of steadying the ship with his fellow wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel (70 runs off 35 balls), as the duo stitched a vital partnership of 101 runs for the fourth wicket to keep the side afloat.
However, after Samson’s departure, Jurel too got dismissed as the asking run rate kept climbing up. As a result, Rajasthan Royals succumbed to the chase pressure and could only manage to bat till the end for net run rate sake. They finished their innings on 240/6 to hand Sunrisers Hyderabad a 44-run victory.
Meanwhile, here’s what the captains and the Player of the Match (POTM) had to say regarding how the match panned out on Sunday-
Who Said What?
Pat Cummins, SRH Captain, said
I wouldn’t be wanting to bowl to our boys. Unbelievable. That was scary. You know it’s going to be tough (for the bowlers) but when you got such a big score, one over can win you. We have been able to keep the core of the side together. Ishan today was incredible. Just trying to play with freedom. The preparation has been amazing, our coaches have been amazing. The boys created a blueprint for how to play for the rest of the year.
Riyan Parag, RR Captain, said
It was tough, just like I expected. Credit to SRH but we could have executed better. Will have a sit down and chat about today. (On choosing to bowl first) I feel collectively we took that decision, it was the right decision but it was about executing better.
You’d mind if 280 is on the board, in the toss I said 200 was what I expected but 220-240 would have been good to take. Quite a few positives, the way Dhruv and Sanju batted was brilliant. And then Hettie and Shivam as well later on. Tushar bowled really well, Sandy paaji did well. A win or a less, we take the learnings and then we forget.
Ishan Kishan, Player of the Match, said
To be very honest, the nervousness was there. Looking at the team, Pat and the coach gave me a lot of confidence. The environment is so calm. I just enjoyed my time in the middle. I had a lot of time, I was practising a lot, worked hard on my batting. The preparation was good.
You can see Abhishek Sharma and Head going in and playing that sort of a game. You get the confidence. Pat – he knows what’s there for the team. We have to enjoy whatever your gameplay is. You have to plan accordingly, don’t be afraid of getting out.
India
