Mumbai: Shane Warne knew a little more about T20 franchise cricket more than the rest when the inaugural IPL happened. Warne, who was the coach, mentor and captain of the side in 2008, led the Royals to the title. Warne passed away recently due to a cardiac arrest while holidaying in Thailand. Warne’s sudden demise shook the cricketing fraternity as tributes started pouring in from all quarters.
After Rajasthan Royals emphatic win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in their IPL opener, the side remembered the legend in an unique way. A poster of the Aussie legend was was hung where the Rajasthan Royals squad was sitting. The picture of the post was shared on the social media handle of Rajasthan Royals which has gone viral. The message on the poster read: “Forever the first royal”. Sharing the picture, RR wrote: “With us, wherever we go.”
Meanwhile, the Royals after getting their campaign off to a dream start would like to continue the winning momentum going ahead.
Earlier, riding on brilliant attacking knocks by skipper Sanju Samson (55 off 27), Devdutt Padikkal (41 off 29) and a late cameo by Shimron Hetmyer (32 off 13), Rajasthan Royals posted 210/6 in 20 overs. Apart from the trio of Samson, Padikkal and Hetmyer, Jos Buttler (35 off 28) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (20 off 16) also made valuable contributions with the bat.
Chasing a mammoth 211 to win, SRH top-order batters — Kane Williamson (2), Abhishek Sharma (9), Rahul Tripathi (0), Nicholas Pooran (0) couldn’t do much for Hyderabad. Lower down the order, Aiden Markram (57 off 41), Romario Shepherd (24 off 18) and Washington Sundar (40 off 14) tried hard but it wasn’t enough as Hyderabad were restricted to 149-7 in 20 overs. Yuzvendra Chahal (3/22), Prasidh Krishna (2/16) and Trent Boult (2/23) were the wicket-takers for Rajasthan.
Brief scores: Rajasthan Royals 210/6 in 20 overs (Sanju Samson 55, Devdutt Padikkal 41; Umran Malik 2/39) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad 149/7 in 20 overs(Aiden Markram 57, Washington Sundar 40; Yuzvendra Chahal 3/22) by 61 runs.
– IPL Match Preview