Rampant Sunrisers Hyderabad script triumphant IPL 2025 start

HYDERABAD: Ishan Kishan’s swashbuckling century, followed by a combined bowling effort, led Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) to a 42-run victory over Rajasthan Royals in the second match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) here at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Sunday.

Put into bat first, the 2016 champions racked up a mammoth total of 286/6 on the board, with Kishan leading the charge on SRH debut.

SRH’s established opening pair of Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma once again gave them a flying start by putting together a brisk 45 runs in three overs.

Sharma fell victim to Maheesh Theekshana on the first delivery of the fourth over and walked back after scoring an 11-ball 24.

Head was then joined by Kishan and the duo maintained the momentum with an 85-run partnership, culminating with the former’s dismissal in the 10th over.

The Australia international scored 67 off 31 deliveries with the help of a dozen boundaries including three sixes.

Kishan then oversaw SRH’s batting expedition until the end and returned after scoring an unbeaten 106 off 47 deliveries, studded with 11 fours and six sixes.

For his match-winning century, Kishan was adjudged the Player of the Match.

He also shared notable partnerships with Nitish Kumar Reddy and Heinrich Klaasen, who registered brisk cameos of 30 and 34 respectively.

Tushar Deshpande was the standout bowler for the Royals, picking up three wickets for 44 runs in his four overs. Theekshana bagged two, while Sandeep Sharma made one scalp.

Chasing a daunting 287-run target, the inaugural champions fell 42 runs short despite quick half-centuries by Sanju Samson and Dhruv Jurel.

Jurel struck five fours and six sixes on his way to top-score for the Royals with a 35-ball 70, while Samson made 66 off 37 deliveries, comprised of seven fours and four sixes.

The duo also shared a 111-run partnership for the fourth wicket but both perished in the span of just three deliveries.

Their back-to-back dismissals dented the Royals’ momentum and Shimron Hetmyer and Shubham Dubey’s blistering cameos to follow too could not seal the deal.

For the SRH, Simarjeet Singh and Harshal Patel took two wickets each, while Mohammed Shami and Adam Zampa struck out one batter apiece.

The 42-run victory powered Sunrisers Hyderabad to the top of the IPL 2025 standings with two points in one match, while Rajasthan Royals succumbed to the fourth.