An unbeaten 85-run stand for the sixth wicket between Rahul Tewatia (45 not out) and Riyan Parag (42 not out) helped Rajasthan Royals(RR) secure a memorable five-wicket win against SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday.
Chasing a target of 159, RR were tottering at 78/5 at the start of the 13th over after which the pair turned it around for the 2008 Indian Premier League (IPL) champions. The match marks the end of a run of defeats for RR that extended to four matches before Sunday's fixture.
Tewatia and Parag capitalised in the death overs after steadying the ship for RR. They smashed 69 runs in the last five overs with Riyan Parag hitting a six off the penultimate ball of the last over to win it for his team.
Earlier, disciplined bowling from Rajasthan Royals kept SunRisers Hyderabad in check, restricting them to 158/4 wickets. Jonny Bairstow and David Warner, who had put on a big century stand in the previous match, failed to fire as an opening pair, putting on only 23. Bairstow made 16 off 19 deliveries while David Warner scored 48 off 38 balls.
After the early loss of Bairstow, Manish Pandey (54 off 44 deliveries) and Warner added 73 runs in 10 overs.
But it was skipper Kane Williamson at the back-end who provided the fillip, playing an unbeaten 12-ball 22-run knock. He was well-supported by Priyam Garg, who made 8-ball 15.
Jofra Archer picked one for 25. Kartik Tyagi and Jaydev Unadkat too picked a wicket each.
Brief scores: SRH 158/4 wkts in 20 overs (David Warner 48, Manish Pandey 54, Jofra Archer 1/25) lost to RR 163/5 wkts in 20 overs (Rahul Tewatia 45 not out, Riyan Parag 42 not out; Rashid Khan 2/25) by 5 wkts