NEW DELHI: After suffering a 55-run loss against Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League (IPL), SunRisers Hyderabad head coach Trevor Bayliss said that it was a difficult decision to drop David Warner from the playing XI.

On Saturday, SRH had removed David Warner as its captain and the former skipper was not even in the playing XI for the game against Rajasthan. Jos Buttler’s masterful 124-run knock was followed by a spirited bowling performance as Rajasthan Royals defeated SunRisers Hyderabad by 55 runs here at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Sunday. “It was a very difficult decision to drop Warner, a guy who has had so much success for the team, that was the way we wanted to go and try a different combination working for us,” said Bayliss while replying to an ANI query during a virtual press conference.

“Very challenging to adapt to a new captain, but I do not think there will be too much of a problem as Kane has been the captain before in the last 2-3 years. An experienced captain who also leads New Zealand, we did not play well tonight,” he added.

Further talking about Warner warming the bench, Bayliss said: “Like any player that gets dropped, he was disappointed, he was doing as much as he could as the 12th man for the team and the boys. He was cleaning up the bottles in the end, I noticed. He has been talking with Kane and the other boys.”

For Rajasthan Royals, Chris Morris and Mustafizur Rahman scalped three wickets each. For SRH, Manish Pandey was the top scorer after playing a knock of 31 runs. With this win, Rajasthan has moved to the fifth spot with 6 points from 7 games while SunRisers Hyderabad remains at the bottom spot with just two points.

Earlier, Jos Buttler and Sanju Samson starred with the bat as Rajasthan Royals posted a score of 220/3 in the allotted twenty overs. Buttler and Samson played knocks of 124 and 48 respectively for the Royals. Riyan Parag also played a useful cameo of 15 runs from eight balls. For SRH, Rashid Khan, Sandeep Sharma, and Vijay Shankar returned with one wicket each.

“Obviously, Rashid is our best performer. He had a decent record against Jos Buttler in the past so we thought to give him an over pretty early to try and get Buttler before he got going. It was a flat wicket and so Kane decided to keep Rashid going, unfortunately, it did not work but that’s the way game goes sometimes,” said Bayliss.

The 30th match of VIVO IPL 2021 will be played between Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) today. Both the teams have played 7 games till now, out of which Kolkata Knight Riders have won 2 games while Royal Challengers Bangalore have won 5 games.

Kolkata Knight Riders are currently in 6th place on the points table. The team lost its previous game against Delhi Capitals as they failed to defend a par-total scored by its batters. After losing the toss, Kolkata was invited to bat first. Nitish Rana failed to play a big inning this time, Shubman Gill scored 43 runs off 38 deliveries and seems to have gained back his long-lost form.

Rahul Tripathi contributed 19 runs with the bat. Eoin Morgan and Sunil Narine both departed for a duck. Towards the end, Andre Russell scored 45 runs off 27 deliveries and led the team to a respectable total of 154 runs. But this total was not enough against the likes of Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan, and the opposition chased this total with more than 3 overs left.

Pat Cummins was the sole wicket-taker for Kolkata in this game and picked 3 wickets. The team has issues in the middle-order as well as bowling as the big names have failed to deliver up to the expectations.

Talking about Royal Challengers Bangalore, the team is currently at 3rd place on the points table. In their last game against Punjab Kings (PBKS), the team fell flat while chasing as the batting lineup was trapped in the web woven by Harpreet Brar. After winning the toss, the skipper decided to bowl first, in response to this, Punjab Kings scored 179 runs on the board.

Kyle Jamieson picked 2 wickets while Yuzvendra Chahal, Daniel Sams, and Shahbaz Ahmad picked one wicket each. While chasing this total, opener Devdutt Padikkal succumbed cheaply to pacer Riley Meredith. Virat Kohli scored 35 runs while Rajat Patidar scored 31 runs. Towards the end, Harshal Patel contributed 31 runs off just 13 deliveries but in vain as the team was decimated for 145 runs and faced a loss by 34 runs. The team must learn from its mistakes and look forward positively to the upcoming games.

KKR

(2 won, 5 losses)

Strengths:

• Depends on Power-hitters like Russell, Morgan & Karthik

• Pat Cummins and Varun Chakravarthy are the asset in bowling

Weaknesses:

• Batting collapse is a big problem

• Shivam Mavi & P Krishna`s performance is fluctuating

RCB

(5 won, 2 losses)

Strengths:

• Maxwell and AB de Villiers are a top performer

• Danieal Sams performed well in fast bowling

Weaknesses:

• A Batting collapse in the last match against Kings

• Virat and Devdutt Padikkal`s performance is not consistent

• Sometimes Harshal Patel is very expensive

NEW DELHI: Jos Buttler’s masterful 124-run knock was followed by a spirited bowling performance as Rajasthan Royals (RR) defeated SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) by 55 runs in an Indian Premier League (IPL) encounter here at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Sunday.

For RR, Chris Morris and Mustafizur Rahman scalped three wickets each. For SRH, Manish Pandey was the top scorer after playing a knock of 31 runs. With this win, Rajasthan has moved to the sixth spot with 6 points from 7 games while SRH remains at the bottom spot with just two points. Chasing 221, SRH got off to a steady start as openers Jonny Bairstow and Manish Pandey put on 57 runs inside the first six overs. Mustafizur Rahman provided the breakthrough to Rajasthan as he bowled Pandey (31) in the seventh over. Soon after, Rahul Tewatia removed Bairstow (30) reducing SRH to 70/2 in the 8th over.

Kane Williamson and Vijay Shankar were not able to get on with it and the asking run-rate increased substantially. In trying to hit a big one, Shankar (8) perished in the 11th over off the bowling of Chris Morris. Kartik Tyagi got the biggest wicket in the 13th over as he dismissed Williamson (20) and this left SRH staring down the barrel at 105/4.

Mohammad Nabi played a quickfire cameo of 17 runs from just five balls, but his wicket in the 15th over proved to be the final nail in the coffin. Abdul Samad (10) and Kedar Jadhav (19) added some runs to the total, but in the end, SRH had to stumble to a 55-run loss.

Earlier, Jos Buttler and Sanju Samson starred with the bat as RR posted a score of 220/3 in the allotted twenty overs. Buttler and Samson played knocks of 124 and 48 respectively for the Royals. Riyan Parag also played a useful cameo of 15 runs from eight balls. For SRH, Rashid Khan, Sandeep Sharma, and Vijay Shankar returned with one wicket each.

Asked to bat first, RR was given a blow in the third over of the innings as Rashid Khan had Yashasvi Jaiswal (12) adjudged leg-before wicket. Skipper Sanju Samson next joined Buttler in the middle and the duo Rajasthan’s score to 42/1 at the end of the sixth over. Buttler and Samson continued to frustrate Hyderabad bowlers and in the process, the right-handed Buttler brought up his half-century in the 13th over of the innings. Both batsmen continued with their carnage and SunRisers bowlers had no answers to stop the duo.

The 150-run stand for the second wicket finally came to an end in the 17th over as Vijay Shankar sent Samson (48) back to the pavilion, bringing Riyan Parag to the crease. Buttler registered his century off just 56 balls and he brought up the feat in the 17th over of the innings. In the final three overs, Parag (15*), Buttler (124), and David Miller (7*) managed to add 48 more runs to the total and as a result, Rajasthan registered a score of more than the 215-run mark. Buttler was dismissed by Sandeep Sharma in the penultimate over, but Parag remained unbeaten.

Brief Scores: Rajasthan Royals 220/3 (Jos Buttler 124, Sanju Samson 48, Rashid Khan 1-24) vs SunRisers Hyderabad 165/8 (Manish Pandey 31, Jonny Bairstow 30, Mustafizur Rahman 3-20).

Shikhar Dhawan played a knock of 69 runs as Delhi Capitals defeated Punjab Kings by seven wickets in an Indian Premier League (IPL) encounter here at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday.

Along with Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw also played a quickfire knock of 39 runs. For Punjab Kings, Chris Jordon, Harpreet Brar, and Riley Meredith returned with one wicket each. With this win, Delhi Capitals has moved to the first spot in the points table with 12 points from 8 games while Punjab Kings remain in sixth place with six points. Chasing 167, Delhi Capitals got off to a flying start as openers Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan put on 63 runs inside the first six overs. The introduction of Harpreet Brar paid off immediately as he clean bowled Prithvi (39) in the seventh over of the innings.

Steve Smith then joined Dhawan in the middle and the duo put on 47 runs for the second wicket but with just 50 runs away from the target, Delhi ended up losing the wicket of Smith (24) in the 13th over. Rishabh Pant then came to the middle and he played a useful 14-run cameo. In the end, Dhawan along with Shimron Hetmyer (16*) took Delhi over the line with seven wickets in hand and 14 balls to spare.

Earlier, Mayank Agarwal played an unbeaten knock of 99 runs as Punjab Kings posted a score of 166/6 in the allotted twenty overs. Along with Agarwal, Dawid Malan also chipped in with a knock of 26 runs. For Delhi Capitals, Kagiso Rabada returned with three wickets.

Asked to bat first, Punjab Kings got off to a bad start as the side lost Prabhsimran Singh (12) and Chris Gayle (13) inside the first six overs and the side’s powerplay score read 39/2. Kagiso Rabada took the first two wickets for the Delhi Capitals.

Dawid Malan then joined Mayank Agarwal in the middle and the duo mixed caution with aggression to revive the innings for Punjab. Both batsmen put on 52 runs for the third wicket, but as soon as Punjab started to gain an upper hand, Delhi stormed right back as Axar Patel bowled Malan (26). In the very next over, Deepak Hooda (1) was run-out and as a result, Punjab was reduced to 88/4 in the 14th over.

After Hooda’s dismissal, Mayank took on the mantle of being the aggressor and he even dispatched Ishant Sharma for 15 runs in the 16th over. Shahrukh Khan (4) and Chris Jordon (2) disappointed with the bat, but Mayank ensured that Punjab posts a score of more than the 160-run mark.

Brief Scores: Punjab Kings 166/6 (Mayank Agarwal 99*, Dawid Malan 26, Kagiso Rabada 3-36) vs Delhi Capitals 167/3 (Shikhar Dhawan 69*, Prithvi Shaw 39, Harpreet Brar 1-19).

Taskin Ahmed picked three wickets before Niroshan Dickwella smashed a fifty as Sri Lanka maintained the driver’s seat on day two of the second Test against Bangladesh here on Friday. An unbroken 87-run seventh-wicket stand between wicket-keeper batsman Dickwella and Ramesh Mendis took Sri Lanka to 469/6 at the end of the second day’s play.

Dickwella is unbeaten on 64 with Ramesh giving him company on 22*. Bangladesh bowlers did bring the visitors back in the game picking five wickets on day two but Dickwella and Ramesh ensured Sri Lanka put on a good total before the play was called off on Friday. After the domination of Sri Lanka on the first day, Bangladesh fought back in the match dur to an impressive display by the bowlers on day two in Kandy. Bad light and rain stopped the play a couple of times on Friday. Sri Lanka started the day with an overnight score of 291 for 1. Taskin bowled with heart from the start of the morning and finally, he was rewarded with two big wickets. He got rid of centurion Thirimanne and Angelo Mathews respectively.

Before lunch, Taijul Islam put more pressure on Sri Lanka by dismissing Dhananjaya on 2. A fifth-wicket partnership between Fernando and Pathum Nissanka looked dangerous before Taskin again gave the breakthrough in his return spell with the wicket for Pathum on 30. Mehidy Hasan on the other also joined the party and picked up the important wicket of Dhananjaya who scored 81. Sri Lanka was in some trouble after losing six wickets for 382. From there Dickwella counter-attack the bowlers and scored a quick fifty. He made an unbeaten 87-run partnership with Ramesh before bad light forced the umpires to call off the day.

Brief Scores: Sri Lanka 469/6 (Lahiru Thirimanne 140*, Dimuth Karunaratne 118; Taskin Ahmed 3-119) vs Bangladesh

Rohit Sharma’s elegance and Suryakumar Yadav’s flamboyance will be pitted against the brute power of Faf du Plessis and grace of Ruturaj Gaikwad when heavyweights Mumbai Indians (MI) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) cross swords in the Indian Premier League (IPL) in New Delhi today. MI and CSK head into the match after identical seven-wicket wins over Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad respectively and both teams would be keen to continue their winning streak. The biggest positive for Mumbai has been the return to form of opener Quinton de Kock, who made a blistering, unbeaten 70 against Rajasthan.

The faltering Mumbai Indians middle-order also clicked in the previous game, on a comparatively easy batting track compared to the one at the Chepauk.

Suryakumar (170 runs) would need to convert his starts while Krunal Pandya (68 runs) played a useful cameo, which would have bolstered his confidence. He would be keen to take it forward from where he left off.

Kieron Pollard (81 runs) also displayed his hard-hitting skills on Thursday and would be raring to go once again, and so would fellow all-rounder Hardik Pandya (36 runs).

Pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult have been exceptional, particularly at the death, and would need to perform again to contain the in-form CSK batters.

Leggie Rahul Chahar, with 11 scalps, has been MI’s leading wicket-taker. He would, however, need support from Krunal and the seasoned off-spinner Jayant Yadav, who was a tad expensive in the last game.

Meanwhile, table-toppers CSK have been a force to reckon with this season, having won five of their six games.

Openers du Plessis (270 runs) and Ruturaj (192 runs) have been in top form and would be keen to provide the team with another strong start.

Their middle-order has also been among runs. Moeen Ali (148 runs) has adjusted well to the role of pinch-hitter, while the presence of the ever-reliable Suresh Raina (121 runs) gives the team a huge cushion.

Then there are Ambati Rayadu (64 runs) and Ravindra Jadeja (109 runs), who has improved as a batsman and can plunder sixes at will, apart from skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (37 runs), who appears content to be playing second fiddle these days. Add Englishman Sam Curran and CSK can take any attack apart when in form.

CSK bowlers led by Deepak Chahar (8 wickets) and Curran (6 wickets) have done a splendid job, while Shardul Thakur, with four scalps, could be decisive in breaking partnerships.

Jadeja has also shone with the ball, taking five wickets while Moeen has four and all of them would be hoping to be at their best against Mumbai.

MUMBAI INDIANS

(3 WON, 3 LOSSES)

Strengths:

• Got Rhythm in Delhi

• Quinton de Kock is in good form

• Excellent bowling by Jasprit Bumrah

• Rahul Chahar has a wicket taking ability

Weaknesses:

• Except Bumrah, bowling unit is expensive

• Rohit Sharma is yet to play a big inning

CHENNAI SUPER KINGS

(5 WON, 1 LOSS)

Strengths:

• Opening is a big asset

• Middle order is well supported

• Opening bowling and Jadeja are doing well

• Very good fielding in outfield

• Won all the matches convincingly

Weaknesses:

• Shardul Thakur is proved to be expensive