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Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) will take on inaugural champions Rajasthan Royals (RR) in tonight's IPL 2024 match. It is the first and only league match between these two franchises this season. The Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium will play host to this Thursday night blockbuster.
Both Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals have been in phenomenal form this season. While RR have almost sealed their place in the IPL 2024 playoffs, SRH need just a few more wins to book their spot in the top 4 of the points table. It should not be a surprise if SRH or RR end up winning their second IPL championship in 2024.
The two teams have focused a lot on their batting strength this year. They have two of the strongest batting lineups in IPL 2024. However, there was a time when bowling would be the strength of both franchises. In fact, they even played out some exciting low-scoring thrillers in the IPL.
Ahead of the SRH vs RR clash in IPL 2024, here's a look at the top three spells by bowlers in this rivalry's history.
#3 Bhuvneshwar Kumar - 4/14 vs Rajasthan Royals, IPL 2014
Sunrisers Hyderabad's experienced campaigner Bhuvneshwar Kumar owns the record for the best bowling figures by an SRH bowler against Rajasthan Royals. Ten years ago, RR hosted SRH for a game in Ahmedabad. Batting first, the Orange Army could only score 134/9 in 20 overs.
Chasing 135 for a victory, Rajasthan got off to a horrible start as Kumar dismissed Ajinkya Rahane for a duck. Dale Steyn, Karn Sharma and Moises Henriques then came to the party, reducing RR to 82/6.
With Rajat Bhatia and James Faulkner still batting in the middle, RR had a chance to chase down the 135-run target. However, Kumar had other plans. He dismissed both Bhatia and Faulkner in quick succession.
He also sent Kane Richardson back to the dressing room by taking a catch off his own bowling. In the end, RR were bundled out for 102, losing by 32 runs. Kumar finished with dream figures of 4/14 in four overs.
#2 James Faulkner - 5/20 vs Sunrisers Hyderabad, 2013
Former Rajasthan Royals all-rounder James Faulkner loved playing against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the league. Back in the 2013 season, Faulkner recorded two five-wicket hauls in the league games against the Orange Army.
The first one came at Jaipur's Sawai Man Singh Stadium, where Faulkner's excellent bowling left Hyderabad reeling at 29/6. He picked up the wickets of Shikhar Dhawan, Kumar Sangakkara and Karn Sharma, while Ajit Chandila got rid of Akshath Reddy and Thisara Perera. Kevon Cooper also chipped in with Hanuma Vihari's wicket.
Daren Sammy and Amit Mishra stitched up a 58-run seventh-wicket partnership to stabilize the SRH innings. However, Faulkner came back to dismiss both of them as SRH restricted RR to 144/9 and chased down the 145-run target in just 17.5 overs.
#1 James Faulkner - 5/16 vs Sunrisers Hyderabad, 2013
As mentioned earlier, James Faulkner took two five-wicket hauls against Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2013. The second one came at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium on May 17. Surprisingly, RR ended up losing that game by 23 runs.
Just like the match in Jaipur, Faulkner picked up some wickets in the powerplay. This time, his victims were Parthiv Patel and Shikhar Dhawan. Uncapped player Biplab Samantray hit a half-century before losing his wicket to Faulkner.
The left-arm pacer also bagged the wickets of Daren Sammy and Dale Steyn to finish with figures of 5/16 in four overs. Chasing a meager 137-run target, RR managed 113/9 in 20 overs.
