RR vs SRH | Player Ratings: Manish Pandey’s heroics in vain as Rajasthan Royals beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by seven wickets

RR vs SRH | Player Ratings: Manish Pandey’s heroics in vain as Rajasthan Royals beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by seven wickets

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Manish Pandey played a blistering knock of 61 runs off 36 deliveries to help his side post a competitive total, which was quite convincingly gunned down by Royals with seven wickets to spare. SRH lacked support from their middle-order which also denied them from posting a massive total. 

Kane Williamson (4/10): With their man in-form Jonny Bairstow unavailable, Kane Williamson was compelled to open the batting alongside David Warner. He looked in fabulous touch and played a couple of good strokes, but it’s very difficult to make up for the kind of form the Englishman was. Williamson was undone on 13 by a wrong’ un from Shreyas Gopal to make way for an on-song Manish Pandey. 

David Warner (5/10): Would you believe if I said that Warner didn’t score a single boundary during his 37-ball stint at the crease? Well as absurd as it may sound, it’s true. Although the strike-rate at which he batted today was not noteworthy, there could be a book written on Warner’s consistency. Even on a bad day, he manages to score 37 runs off 32 and is the leading run-scorer this season for a reason. By the time Warner’s playing days are over, he would just walk into almost everyone’s All-Time XI, such has been his impact in T20s. 

Manish Pandey (7.5/10): It’s a rare, very rare scenario when David Warner is overshadowed in IPL. Manish continued his good form in this game as well and made batting look extremely easy. The timing was exquisite and pierced the gaps with perfection. Pandey kick-started his innings with a boundary over long-off and gave a glimpse of his intentions right at the outset. That one big innings infused massive confidence in Pandey as he looked like a completely different player on the surface, where his imminent peers struggled to score boundaries.  

Vijay Shankar (2/10): If Vijay Shankar continues to fizzle out like this, then his fans will certainly start sympathising with Ambati Rayudu. With no Bairstow at the top and SRH’s middle-order woes very prominent, it was Shankar’s responsibility to play out the innings and guide SRH to a challenging total. But all he could manage was a mistimed pull straight towards Unadkat at square leg on 8. 

Shakib Al Hassan (3/10): SRH’s middle-order continues to haunt them as a total of 180 that looked achievable at one stage, only became a fantasy, courtesy to another middle-order collapse. Shakib carries massive experience on his shoulders and well-seasoned to tackle this kind of a situation, but in an attempt to milk as many runs as possible in the death, Shakib floundered on 9.  

Deepak Hooda (2/10): Hooda should consider himself lucky because of the fact that SRH has persisted with him despite a string of failures. This was the perfect stage for Hooda to keep questions regarding his spot at bay, but he outfoxed himself by the most unsuccessful bowler of the tournament - Jaydev Unadkat. 

Wriddhiman Saha (5/10): It would be cruel to criticise Wriddhiman Saha on his maiden outing this season as the wicketkeeper-batsman tried everything within his reach in the death overs, but there is hardly anything explosive that he could do. He tried to take on Oshane Thomas but was beaten by pace, bounce and everything a bowler could have produced on this surface. 

Rashid Khan (7/10): Is there anything that Rashid Khan cannot do? When SRH needed some impetus, Rashid took guard under pressure and played a much-needed cameo to put up a decent total. He is an underrated player when it comes to batting and has been more than handy under crunch situations. Rashid didn’t have a good day with the ball and its effect was clearly evident on the result. 30 for 1 is not something you associate Rashid with, but the leggie did well to make a strong comeback after being taken for runs in the first over. 

Bhuvneshwar Kumar (5/10): Though the swing, for which he is widely reckoned for, was not visible, Bhuvneshwar showed good discipline with the new ball. But that’s not his primary duty, he is a wicket-taker and needs to bag early wickets to put the opposition on the backfoot. He remained economical, but while defending a total as small as 160, the team had to pick early wickets.

Khaleel Ahmed (6/10): The left-arm pacer brought his angle into good use and was unlucky to not have picked two wickets as Rashid dropped a catch off his bowling. He cramped Smith for room on his final delivery and ensured he didn’t remain wicketless.    

Siddharth Kaul (2/10): In this format of uncertainties, mediocrity is penalised. A bowler cannot afford to step a foot wrong or else runs were on the cards. With Rahane and Livingstone going gaga early on, Williamson summoned Siddharth Kaul with an intent to break the partnership. But the bowler swung the pendulum totally in Royals’ favour by leaking as many as 20 runs in a single over. His next three overs didn’t spring any magic either as Royals walked away with a convincing win.

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