Hyderabad: James Faulkner's effort of 5 for 16 went in vain as Rajasthan Royals failed to chase a moderate total of 137 against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium at Uppal on Friday. The 23-run victory, meanwhile, boosted Hyderabad's chances of reaching the play-offs as, with 18 points from 15 matches, they are now two points ahead of nearest rival, Royal Challengers Bangalore, and have one more game in hand.
Faulkner probably had seen the footage of his previous outing against the same opponent in Jaipur where he got a five-for (5 for 20). The tall Tasmanian started off in the same fashion - providing early wickets to his side. He first rattled Parthiv Patel's stumps and then had Shikhar Dhawan (1) caught at backward point by Ajinkya Rahane.
One might have expected Cameron White (0) playing more reservedly, especially after his side lost early wickets, but he was tempted to play a hook by Shane Watson and caught by Siddharth Trivedi at long leg. Hanuma Vihari (19) and Biplab Samantray (55) then did the repair work as the Hyderabad innings went ahead at a snail's pace, getting just 21 runs in the six-over mandatory powerplay.
Samantray hit the first boundary of the innings when he lofted Pravin Tambe over covers in the fifth over. He steered Stuart Binny to the vacant third man region for the team's second boundary. He and Vihari shared 44 runs for the fourth wicket until Vihari mistimed a flick
11:22 PM, May 17, 2013
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