Early dominance in both innings from Rajasthan Royals saw them cruise to a comfortable 72-run triumph over Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sunday to open their IPL campaign with a win.
Runners-up last season, Rajasthan had strong performances from Jos Buttler with the bat and Trent Boult with the ball to thank as they overwhelmed their opponents.
Hyderabad won the toss and put the Royals in to bat first, a decision that proved to be a poor one as openers Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal smashed a team record of 85 runs in the powerplay, with the former reaching his half-century off just 20 balls before he was cleaned up by Fazalhaq Farooqi.
Though the Royals' run rate slowed following Buttler's dismissal for 54, Jaiswal (54) and captain Sanju Samson (55) both reached half-centuries while Shimron Hetmyer added 22 in an important cameo as Rajasthan set Hyderabad a target of 204.
The Sunrisers' chase faltered almost immediately, Boult removing Abhishek Sharma and Rahul Tripathi in the opening over without a run on the board before danger man Harry Brook saw his first IPL innings ended with just 13 from 21 deliveries when he was bowled by Yuzvendra Chahal.
Wickets continued to tumble as Chahal impressed, taking 4-17 to eradicate any chances of a miraculous Hyderabad chase and see his team to an emphatic victory.
Royals' top order set unassailable target
Despite taking just 43 runs off the final five overs, Rajasthan's top order had already put them in good stead, recording the fifth most powerplay runs in IPL history.
Their top three batsmen all reached 50 as Buttler and Jaiswal piled on the runs early before a captain's innings from Samson helped the Royals set a target that Hyderabad never looked like knocking off.
Boult blitz stamps out Hyderabad's hopes
Any chance of a successful Sunrisers' run chase was essentially stamped out within the first over as a double-wicket maiden from Boult had them staring down the barrel of defeat.
Rajasthan opted to use Boult's pace early and often, the New Zealander bowling three of the first five overs, conceding just eight runs in that spell before eventually finishing with figures of 2-21.
Moody thinks Gambhir will be able to get the best out of Narine and Russell in 2024 IPL
Former Australia all-rounder Tom Moody has stated that Gautam Gambhir was pivotal in Kolkata Knight Riders retaining Andre Russell and Sunil Narine for the 2024 season of the Indian Premier League.
Gambhir has returned to the IPL franchise as a mentor for the 2024 IPL season.
KKR on Sunday retained Russell and Narine along with Anukul Roy, Harshit Rana, Jason Roy, Nitish Rana, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Rinku Singh, Shreyas Iyer, Sunil Narine, Suyash Sharma, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy, and Venkatesh Iyer.
Russell joined KKR in 2014, while Narine joined in 2012 and both have been mainstays in the team since then.
“They both have been phenomenal cricketers for KKR. I feel that Gambhir has been quite pivotal in the retention of Russell and Narine. Gambhir understands them, he’s played with them, he’s captained them and he’ll be able to get the best out of them,” said Moody to ESPNCricinfo.
However, Moody also revealed their hesitation regarding Russell’s physical condition instead of his performance. Russell scored 227 runs in 14 matches while picking seven wickets for KKR in IPL 2023.
“I think we’ll see a different outcome in 2024 with regards to what Russell brings to the table. The only hesitation I have is not skill. It’s whether he can hold together physically because we’ve seen him break down on a couple of occasions over recent years and it’s been quite alarming. His bowling has been pretty limited as well, and they haven’t had the access to his full quota of overs,” Moody added.
ECB boss admits challenges remain for cricket after positive impact report
Making cricket the most inclusive sport in the country and breaking down barriers to access will continue to present tough challenges for the England and Wales Cricket Board, according to chief executive Richard Gould.
The ECB’s Impact of Cricket Report, published on Tuesday, was produced alongside the The Sports Consultancy (TSC), who assessed the governing body’s projects, programmes and data from recent years as well as the impacts they deliver.
As well as demonstrating how cricket keeps people fit and healthy alongside supporting their mental wellbeing, being involved in the sport was shown to build children’s confidence and have positive impacts on both communities and social cohesion.
The report, which focuses primarily on the 2022 and 2023 seasons, showed 80 per cent of respondents agreed playing cricket keeps them active in a way they would not be if they did not get involved.
Other statistics showed 83 per cent of parents said their child’s confidence had been boosted by taking part in the ECB’s ‘All Stars and Dynamos’ programmes.
When looking at social cohesion, the report found 92 per cent said playing cricket makes them feel part of the community, while 83 per cent agreed playing the sport meant they appreciate people from different backgrounds.
The ECB hopes by growing the game, more people will benefit from the positive impacts and more opportunities will be created for people to get involved in the sport.
Data from the report showed just over one million children played cricket through ECB programmes, partner programmes or organised play last year.
During 2023, 717 new women’s and girls’ teams were established, which is a 20 per cent growth, while 526 recreational clubs have been funded to make their facilities more accessible and welcoming, with a focus on breaking down barriers to people getting involved in the sport.
Access to cricket in urban areas is also improving, with funds targeted into the most deprived regions, which have helped more than 30,000 players engaged through hubs which bring together cricket and other local services.
ECB chief executive Gould accepts breaking down socio-economic barriers to playing the sport remains “one of our big challenges”.
Gould said: “Compared to football, which is arguably the biggest competitor, our challenges are more so. Without the assistance of Chance to Shine and the Lord’s Taverners, cricket is not played in schools.
“We have seen the slow demise of that over decades and therefore we are reliant as a sport on our clubs and also our partners to try and get access into schools.
“Football has the benefit of an entire network across all schools that we don’t have, so that is something we have to be cognisant of and make sure that we can get that type of investment in.”
The ECB has recognised the importance of adapting the sport to urban environments, ensuring access for as many people as possible, which saw the Core City Hubs programme established in 2018.
Through the Chance to Shine Street programme, almost 9,000 children and young people are playing free, weekly, year-round cricket, with 81 per cent of participants being from an ethnically diverse community.
Gould feels the landscape of the sport, which has seen a rise in indoor cricket, is changing for the better.
“The definition of a club needs challenging and we are going to challenge that now,” he said.
“You don’t have to have a piece of grass and a pavilion, you can just have a collection of friends that meet in one of these sports halls once a week and you play cricket.
“It is a very different landscape and I think it is a very exciting landscape because it just makes it much easier to play cricket.”
Powell, Joseph, Holder released by franchises as IPL player-retention window closes
Rovman Powell, Alzarri Joseph and Jason Holder are among several West Indies players released by their respective Indian Premier League franchises as the player retention window for the league closed on Monday.
Powell was released by the Delhi Capitals, while Joseph and Odean Smith were the players released by the Gujarat Titans. Holder and Obed McCoy were let go by the Rajasthan Royals, who have retained Shimron Hetmyer on their roster for the 2024 season.
Meanwhile, the Kolkata Knight Riders released Johnson Charles while retaining the services of Andre Russell and Sunil Narine for the coming season.
Akeal Hosein was released by the Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Jofra Archer will also be looking for a new franchise after being let go by the Mumbai Indians who have also traded Romario Shepherd to Mumbai Indians while the Lucknow Super Giants have retained Nicholas Pooran and Kyle Mayers.
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