NEW DELHI: Already under fire over spot-fixing controversy, Rajasthan Royals faced another embarrassment on Friday as they lost their last IPL encounter against Sunrisers Hyderabad by 23 runs to stay third in points table.Chasing a meager 137, Rajasthan Royals were restricted to just 113/9 by Hyderabad at the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium.After a brisk 40-run opening stand, Rajasthan Royals lost wickets at regular intervals.
A brilliant throw by Cameron White sent back skipper Dravid. Dravid made 25 off 24.Two runs later, KV Sharma struck to get rid of Rahane (12).At the score of 51, Amit Mishra struck to get Sanju Samson caught by Dale Steyn at long off.
Thisara Perera then reduced Rajasthan to 65/5 with his double strike in the 14th over.Perera first got Shane Watson caught by Darren Sammy at long on and then bowled out Stuart Binny. Tailenders then failed to give a fight and hosts won the match comfortably.Riding on a brilliant half-ton by Biplab Samantray, Sunrisers Hyderabad managed to post a competitive 136/9 despite a disastrous start.
__PAGEBREAK__
Samantray slammed his maiden IPL fifty and scored 55 of 46 balls before succumbing to James Faulkner who finished with an impressive figure of 5/16, his second five-wicket haul against the Royals in the tournament.After opting to bat, Hyderabad lost Parthiv Patel, Shikhar Dhawan and Cameron White with just 5 runs on board.Faulkner dismissed openers Parthiv Patel and Shikhar Dhawan in the second over.
Faulkner bowled out Patel (2) on the first delivery of the second over and then got Dhawan (1) caught at slip by Ajinkya Rahane to reduce Hyderabad to 4/2.Shane Watson then escalated Hyderabad’s misery by scalping skipper White before he could get off the mark.Hanuma Vihari was the fourth man to fall at the score of 49 in the 11th over. Vihari scored 19 off 28 balls.
Samantray and Darren Sammy then rescued the side from early setback and guided the side past 100 in 16 overs.Sammy (23) became Faulkner’s third victim after a 56-run stand for the fifth wicket.Samantray reached his half-ton but couldn’t fire in the death over and was caught by Kevon Cooper while trying to pull Faulkner.Dale Steyn was Faulkner’s fifth dismissal.