IPL: Fiery spells from Chahal, Boult help RR down SRH by 72 runs

Fiery bowling spells from spinner Yuzvendra Chahal and pacer Trent Boult helped Rajasthan Royals (RR) start off their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 campaign with a 72-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Sunday. In the chase of 204 runs, Sunrisers was off to a disastrous start as pacer Trent Boult dismissed Abhishek Sharma and Rahul Tripathi for ducks in the first over itself, reducing SRH to 0/2 in 0.5 overs. Following these two early hiccups, IPL debutant Harry Brook and Mayank Agarwal, making his SRH debut attempted to rebuild the innings. They took the team through the remainder of the powerplay without any loss of wicket. At the end of six overs, SRH was 30/2 with Harry Brook (10*) and Mayank Agarwal (20*) unbeaten. Harry Brook had a disappointing IPL debut as he was bowled by Yuzvendra Chahal for 13 off 21 balls. SRH was 34/3 in seven overs. SRH continued to lose wickets. Washington Sundar departed for just one after he was caught by Shimron Hetmyer at extra-cover. Jason Holder got his first wicket. SRH was 39/4 in 8.2 overs. Abdul Samad replaced Fazalhaq Farooqi as an impact player for SRH. The all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin got his first wicket, dismissing Glenn Phillips for just eight runs after KM Asif takes a great catch. SRH was 48/5 in 9.3 overs. SRH crossed the 50-run mark in 10.2 overs. Chahal got his second scalp, dismissing Mayank for 27 off 23 balls. He was caught by Jos Buttler at long-off. SRH was 52/6 in 11 overs. Navdeep Saini replaces Yashasvi Jaiswal for RR as an impact player. There was a brief partnership between Samad and Adil Rashid. But Chahal got his third wicket after the batter was stumped by keeper Sanju Samson for 18 off 13 balls. SRH was reduced to 81/7 in 14 overs. At the end of 15 overs, SRH was at 85/7, with Samad (11*) joined by skipper Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1*). With 119 needed in the final five overs, hope was pretty much lost for SRH. Chahal dis