Manish Pandey-Vijay Shankar partnership: Twitter reactions on SRH duo joining hands to beat Rajasthan Royals

Manish Pandey-Vijay Shankar partnership: The duo from Sunrisers Hyderabad stitched together a match-winning stand in Dubai.

During the 40th match of the ongoing 13th season of the Indian Premier League between Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad in Dubai, Sunrisers Hyderabad beat Rajasthan Royals by 8 wickets to register their fourth win this season.

Chasing a mediocre 155-run target, Hyderabad got off to a disastrous start as their star opening pair of captain David Warner (4) and wicket-keeper batsman Jonny Bairstow (10) were dismissed by the third over by Rajasthan spearhead Jofra Archer.

It was at the same time that Manish Pandey started counter-attacking the opposition bowlers not caring much about the situation. In what was a confident assault, Pandey took minimal risks but generated significant impact especially with Vijay Shankar taking a lot of time to get his eye in.

Having hit three fours and four sixes against Kartik Tyagi and Ben Stokes, Pandey begin to change the course of the match inside the powerplay. Not slowing down after the field restrictions were lifted, Pandey made it a point to continue to score brisk runs.

It was on the last delivery of the ninth over that Pandey ran a single off Royals spinner Shreyas Gopal to complete his half-century. With Shankar still playing with a paltry strike rate, Pandey took the onus on himself before his partner also joined the party in the form of his third IPL half-century, 52* (51), including six fours.

Pandey, on the other hand, was the standout performer with his 83* (47) inclusive of four fours and eight sixes dominating an unbeaten 140-run partnership.

Manish Pandey-Vijay Shankar partnership

Earlier, Rajasthan scored a mediocre 154/6 in 20 overs after Warner won the toss and chose to field. All-rounder Jason Holder, who replaced Kane Williamson in tonight’s match, justified his selection on the back of emerging as SRH’s best bowler at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

While Holder registered bowling figures of 4-0-33-3, the likes of Vijay Shankar and Rashid Khan also chipped in with a wicket apiece. Royals wicket-keeper batsman Sanju Samson, who shared a 56-run stand with Ben Stokes (30), top-scored for his team with 36 (26) with the help of three fours and a six.