Hinge’s dream debut dismantles Royals as Sooryavanshi falls cheaply

IPL  – (Web Desk) – Fifteen-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, the young batting sensation of this IPL season, was out for a golden duck on Monday as his team Rajasthan Royals lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad by 57 runs. Two first-time IPL players, pace bowlers Praful Hinge and Sakib Hussain, were the stars of the night.

Sooryavanshi had been the talk of the tournament this season, hitting two fifties in just 15 balls each and playing a big role in Rajasthan’s four wins. But on this evening, things did not go his way.

Hinge, aged 24, made history in his very first over by taking three wickets — something no bowler had ever done in the opening over of an IPL innings. He removed Sooryavanshi, Dhruv Jurel, and Lhuan-dre Pretorius one after another, with all three batters failing to score a single run. At the other end, 21-year-old Hussain struck with his fourth ball to dismiss Yashasvi Jaiswal, and then got Riyan Parag caught at slip in his next over. Rajasthan suddenly found themselves in deep trouble at just 9 runs for the loss of 5 wickets, and the match was as good as over from that point.

Hinge, who looks up to Australia’s star bowler Pat Cummins, finished with impressive figures of 4 wickets for 34 runs. Hussain, coming in as a substitute player, was equally brilliant with 4 wickets for just 24 runs. Together, they took 8 wickets for 58 runs on their IPL debuts, helping Sunrisers — the 2016 champions — bounce back after two straight defeats.

After the match, a delighted Hinge said he had written down a personal goal last year that he would take four or five wickets in his very first game. He also shared that his plan was to be as aggressive as possible in the opening six overs of the chase.

South Africa’s Donovan Ferreira top-scored for Rajasthan with a fighting 69, and Ravindra Jadeja chipped in with 45. The two shared a partnership of 118 runs to give the score some respectability, but Rajasthan were eventually bowled out for 159 in 19 overs, well short of Sunrisers’ target of 217.

It was Rajasthan’s first loss in five matches this season, though they still sit at the top of the ten-team table. Captain Riyan Parag kept a positive outlook after the game, saying there were good things to take from the match, pointing to the strong partnership between Ferreira and Jadeja, and calling the defeat just a small setback.

The moment that will be remembered most, however, was the dismissal of Sooryavanshi. He top-edged a rising delivery from Hinge, the ball flew high in the air, and the wicketkeeper took a clean catch. The young teenager looked up at the sky briefly, then walked back to the dressing room with a disappointed look on his face — unaware that behind him, things were only going to get worse for his team.

Sooryavanshi made history in last year’s IPL in a dazzling debut season highlighted by a 35-ball century, the second fastest in the history of IPL.

The new T20 sensation has mind-boggling numbers to his name, with 452 runs scored in 12 matches with a punishing strike rate of 228.28.

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Earlier, Hyderabad skipper Ishan Kishan hit 91 off 44 balls to guide his team to 216-6 after being invited to bat first.

Abhishek Sharma fell for a first-ball duck off pace ace Jofra Archer and fellow opener Travis Head departed on 18 before the left-handed Kishan hit back.

Kishan, who hit eight fours and six sixes, put on 88 with Heinrich Klaasen, who made 40, to rebuild the innings and lay the foundations of the tall total.

Rajasthan’s England star Archer returned figures of 2-37.