The Rajasthan Royals opened the playoff race by beating the Sunrisers Hyderabad by seven wickets on Saturday.
It was an all-round performance by the men from Rajasthan. They restricted SRH to 160-8, thanks to a balanced bowling effort with four of their six bowlers taking two wickets each.
Mannish Pandey was SRH’s best batsman with a 36-ball 61 and David Warner came in second best with a 32-ball 37.
The Royals’ reply was strong. Ajinkya Rahane (39), Liam Livingstone (44) and Sanju Samson (48) scored the bulk of the runs as RR completed a comfortable victory. They scored 161-3 with five balls remaining.
The Royals have now joined the Sunrisers Hyderabad and the Kings XI Punjab on 10 points in the race for a playoff spot.
Imran Tahir and Faf du Plessis’ Chennai Super Kings sit on top of the table with 16 points.
Quinton de Kock’s Mumbai Indians and Kagiso Rabada’s Delhi Capitals sit second and third respectively with 14 points.
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