Riyan Parag does the 'bihu' on SRH

Tewatia strikes twice as Rajasthan completes an unlikely come from behind victory against team Hyderabad.

SRH Innings

SRH won the toss here in Dubai International Stadium and chose to bat first in game 26 of the IPL. SRH is a team which likes to defend totals, they feel comfortable batting first, putting totals on the board and then asking the opposition to chase it down. That’s the template they operate on, making the first part of their job easy, is their indomitable opening pair of Bairstow and Warner. Johnny Baristow and David Warner are arguably the best opening bats of the IPL, but yesterday against RR, on a low, slow wicket, they struggled. They had no answer to the pace of Jofra Archer and the guile of the leggie Shreyas Gopal in the first 4 overs. And as soon as this pair of bowlers were out of the attack, Baristow tried to break the pattern of dots and singles by attacking the first change bowler Kartik Tyagi. Tyagi went for a six but came back with a beautifully directed bouncer to get Baristow caught in the deep. Interestingly, Tyagi was heard telling one of his teammates that the only advice Archer ever gave him was to “Bowl as many bouncers in the match as you bowl in the nets”. What a wonderful find Kartik Tyagi has been for the RR’s and Indian Cricket, it’s still early days but you can see the potential already.

At the fall of the first wicket for SRH, Manish Pandey came in. Pandey has got starts in this tournament, and looked good, but has failed to convert said starts into a big innings. But it’s good to see that he just gets on with it right from the start, positive intent right from the get go, something that the Chennai Super Kings have lacked throughout the tournament. Pandey was batting well again, but Warner looked like he was struggling. One thing about this diminutive powerhouse is that he is a fighter, Warner knew SRH don’t have the luxury of a deep batting lineup, so he hung around. Timed a few, mistimed a lot but kept running hard and scoring at a decent clip.

Finally Warner got out in the 15th over, scoring 48 off 38. Manish Pandey batted well for his 44 ball 54, but he too went looking for big hits. The finish was provided by Williamson, 12 ball 22, and Priyam Garg, 8 ball 15. I felt that the Sun Risers were at least 15 short of an ideal total.

RR Innings

Chasing 159 to win, RR sent in Jos Butler and with him Ben Stokes. Ben Stokes is a wonderful player, a complete batsman, but he is coming off a break and he is not an opener, it was a highly unnecessary move. Stokes got out in the second over and Smith came in at number 3. This chase was tailored made for Smith, a good player of spin, chasing 160 odd, perfectly set up. But again, he succumbed trying to go for an impossible second run. Sometimes I feel these foreign players overdo the fitness bit. Just to impress the Indian team owners, players and the predominantly Indian audience that how fit and strong they are, they chew off more than they can swallow. Another failure for Smith, the list keeps getting longer. Butler departed early as well.

Samson at four looked a class apart, its a pity he didn’t score more than 25 runs but till he was out there, SRH knew they had to be on their toes. None of the top 5 for RR could dig deep and after 12 they were a modest 78/ 5. At this point SRH were the favorites, and there was an air of inevitability around.

But Riyan Parag and Rahul Tewatia had other ideas. They batted with tactical astuteness, playing out Rashid Khan and not attacking him till the very end. They played with aggression, Tewatia responding well to Khaleel’s real and verbal volleys. And most importantly they showed the teams that Indian Domestic Players are not to be taken lightly, and if you do, do it at your own peril. A fantastic run chase masterminded by Tewatia and taken to conclusion by Riyan Parag with that wonderful six over cover off Khaleel.

Rahul Tewatia is not a one hit wonder, he is not, and he has the spirit of a fighter. And people like Maxwell, Yadav, and even his teammates like Smith or Miller should first respect and then learn from these Indian domestic cricketers. Most of these Indian players have worked immensely hard, fought hunger and poverty, to get to this level and they along with their families should be immensely proud of such efforts. Well done Tewatia, and well done Riyan Parag.

This win was vital for RR, they were coming off defeats and this win will give them much needed confidence and hope. And they have Ben Stokes back, who will need to hit the ground running fast.

SRH on the other hand must be terribly disappointed, I feel they thought they had already won the match when RR were 5 wickets down and eased up in their efforts.

But cricket is a funny old game, and today RR had the last laugh.

Onto the next one.