SRH vs RR

11:46 PM local time and IST: IPL nights are amazing, aren't they? Well, two new heroes were born tonight! Congratulations to Sunrisers Hyderabad, for registering their second victory up to now this season, and their first at home! Now, we move the Chennai, where the Super Kings host Kolkata Knight Riders tomorrow, from 7:30 PM local time. Do join us for that, first thing. This is Pradeep and Bidipto taking your leave. Keep following Sportskeeda! 

Praful Hinge (Player of the Match, 4/34 in 4 overs): "I was pretty certain that I will play in this season, and take lots of wickets. Thankfully, I got the job done as expected! I believe in manifestation. I started my cricket at 13 years of age, and I didn't have a clue about leather-ball cricket. But, as time passed and I got on with things. (On his favourite wicket) My favourite wicket was the one of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, because he is the batter in form. I was contemplating bowling a bouncer and getting him out, but, I wanted to get him early. All credit to Varun (Aaron) sir, and of course, MRF (Pace Academy). I am what I am because of that academy." 

Ishan Kishan [Sunrisers Hyderabad captain]: "Very happy with this win, 2 more points on the board! The bowlers executed their plans, full credit to them. (On the performances of Praful Hinge and Sakib Hussain) You have to look at how hungry and motivated they were to play and do well. Varun Aaron and the coaches were upbeat about them, and they delivered, big time! (On the batting and the up-and-down nature of Abhishek Sharma's scores this season) Looking at the batting unit, the form has been great. We've been scoring 200 runs, easy! Abhishek should be left alone. Because he can give us some explosive starts! (On why he didn't keep wickets) I'm sure he will want to make a big one next game! I didn't keep wickets because I wanted to be closer to the bowler and communicate clearly, also, not to be late on the timer. Maybe, that is the way forward for me!" 

Sakib Hussain [Sunrisers Hyderabad]: "(On his debut performance and emotions) Thank you so much. Every player dreams of a debut like this, and it feels really special. I’m extremely happy with how things turned out.(On learning about his debut and preparation) I was informed by the bowling coach a day before the game that I would be playing. From that moment, it was about being mentally prepared and focusing on delivering a strong performance.(On working with Varun and improving his bowling) Varun bhai has played a big role in my development. He’s been working closely with me over the past few matches, and a lot of the improvement in my bowling, especially with variations, is because of his guidance. I give him full credit for that.(On the spell where wickets fell in clusters) It felt amazing. To have wickets falling in clusters like that in my debut match was a great feeling and something I’ll always remember."

Riyan Parag [Rajasthan Royals captain]: "(On the early collapse in the chase) There wasn’t much time to process emotions. We lost wickets in quick succession, and credit goes to the way they bowled. There may have been a few miscalculations from our side, but I see this as just a blip and something to move on from quickly.(On the pitch conditions) It was actually a good surface. The new ball did a bit with the shine on, making it slightly tricky early on. Once that wore off, it became easier to bat. In hindsight, bowling second might have been better, but we still could have executed far better.(On the opposition’s debutant bowlers) I hadn’t seen much of them before, but they bowled exceptionally well. The way they handled the pressure, especially with the home crowd behind them, was impressive. Their opening spell really set the tone.(On bowling decisions and first-innings assessment) I thought we started well with the ball, but there were a few moments we could have handled better. Not using Jadeja was a split-second decision, especially with Ishan batting well. I trusted Bishnoi in that phase. Overall, I felt they were about 30 runs above par on that surface.(On positives despite the loss) Even after being five down for very little, getting to around 160 shows the depth in our batting. There are definitely positives to take, and it could have been worse.(On moving forward) It’s our first loss of the season, and we’ll treat it as a minor setback. The focus now is to regroup and come back stronger in the next game."

11:17 PM local time and IST: Sunrisers Hyderabad win by 57 runs with an over to spare!

Ishan Kishan 91 (44) | Sakib Hussain - 4/24 (4)
Donovan Ferreira 69 (44) | Jofra Archer - 2/37 (4)

Praful Hinge and Sakib Hussain! Who? Two uncapped Indian pacers of course, two IPL debutants too. And with 8 wickets between them, Sunrisers Hyderabad, in front of their Orange Army, annihilated the table-toppers, Rajasthan Royals!

Whom did Praful and Sakib replace? Jaydev Unadkat and Harshal Patel - two experienced names, two pedigreed names. But now, we can say that the replacements are somewhat permanent, if not fully!

RR were 9/5 in 4 overs! 9/5. Check out the fall of wickets here friends - 1/1 in the 1st over - Vaibhav Sooryavanshi out for a first-ball duck, 1/2 in the 1st over, 1/3 in the 1st over, 2/4 in the 2nd over and 9/5 in 4 overs. Good enough, to break their back!

Praful, bowling at speeds of over 140 kph at times, took 4 wickets, and 3 in the 1st over itself, setting an IPL record of most in an innings. Sakib picked up the wicket of Yashasvi Jaiswal, which was the 4th, in the 2nd over of the innings.

But we cannot go past it - RR's batting was not only impatient, but disappointing in terms of the shots selected.

Then came a big partnership between big players. Ravindra Jadeja, overlooked with the ball, and Donovan Ferreira, came together under immense pressure, and registered a 6th wicket stand of 118 runs in 72 deliveries.

There were fours, there were sixes, there were some good runs taken between the wickets! Most importantly, there was a calming influence for the dugout.

But just when it looked like they were ready to take the innings deeper, Sakib came back, confused Ferreira with his deceptive slower ball and castled him!

He didn't stop there. In his very next, and last over, that slower delivery accounted for back-to-back wickets, just too good for lower-order batters in Jofra Archer and Ravi Bishnoi!

There were some big hits from Tushar Deshpande, but, it was not to be for RR, in terms of batting their overs out!

Ishan Kishan was not the wicketkeeper tonight, but, whatever change SRH made for this game, bore fruit! However, as we said, tonight was all about Praful and Sakib! 

18.6 Eshan Malinga to Tushar Deshpande, OUT! UP IN THE AIR AND TAKEN! It's all over. Rajasthan Royals suffer their first defeat of the tournament—and what a statement from Sunrisers Hyderabad! SRH have absolutely steamrolled RR tonight, delivering a dominant, all-round performance to seal a thumping, emphatic victory! Full toss on the stumps, Deshpande hits it straight up and Kishan makes no mistake at extra-cover.

Umpire went upstairs to check, replay comes up and it's well below waist height!

Jayavantt: "Like Praful, how many hidden Gems are we going to watch in this IPL edition?"
We think Ashok Sharma is a hidden gem too. The fact that fast bowlers are coming out of small Indian towns and villages, and making a mark, is testament of the fact that Indian cricket has unbelievable depth!