In what had to be the most important clash at the bottom of the table in IPL 2021 on Sunday, Rajasthan Royals dominated Sunrisers Hyderabad and clinched victory by 55 runs at Arun Jaitley Stadium, New Delhi. Sunrisers were never able to challenge Royals throughout the game as it turned out to be a pretty one-sided affair.
With this victory, Royals has moved up to fifth place on the points table. Meanwhile, Sunrisers did not have a fruitful match even after changing their captain and dropping David Warner from the playing eleven. They remain at the bottom of the table with just two wins in IPL 2021. Here are key takeaways from Rajasthan’s dominating victory against
What is going wrong for SRH?
SRH has been struggling this whole season, maintaining a constant position at the bottom of the table. Few players here and there have delivered good performances, but Sunrisers are yet to click together as a unit throughout IPL 2021. The Indian batsmen have not been delivering quality level performances and the team needs to start doing something about it if they wish to have a respectable second half of the season. The big auction is coming at the right time for SRH as they desperately need to start from the squad.
Williamson needs to settle in as captain
With SRH appointing Kane Williamson as skipper for the rest of IPL 2021, the team management needs to create conditions to grind out victories. He will also need some time to settle in this role. Williamson seemed underprepared as he garnered criticism for failing to use the bowlers judiciously.
The move to bring Rashid Khan in the third overlooked like a masterstroke as he immediately got a breakthrough. However, bowling him out early in the innings was counterproductive as Royals went on a rampage after the tenth over. The use of DRS was also poor, while the batting order also looked completely out of place. Williamson’s batting was also affected due to new responsibility. The Kiwi batsman will need some time to get the grips of this role with a squad that has a lot of limitations.
Buttler show finally arrived in IPL 2021
After a string of starts and poor scores, Jos Buttler was back to his best on Sunday. The English batsman took time to settle against SRH and then exploded in the second half of the innings. The incredible century comes at the right time for Buttler and Royals as they look to challenge for a place in the top four. Buttler was timing it well on Sunday, and his shot selection was also spot on. Royals will be hoping that Buttler now goes on to get consistency in his batting performances and help the team to qualify for the knock out rounds