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Following his side's win over Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) captain Ishan Kishan expressed happiness at his bowler's performances and plan executions, particularly from two debutants, Praful Hinge and Sakib Hussain, who were played instead of domestic and India veterans Harshal Patel and Jaydev Unadkat.
It was a pacers' day out at the Uppal Stadium as after a commanding 91 from skipper Ishan, two untested debutants, Praful and Sakib, etched their names in IPL history with four-fers on their debut. With this win, RR's four-match win streak is broken, and SRH have their second win to their name alongside three losses. RR have suffered their first loss but sits at the top of the table, while SRH has jumped to fourth place with two wins and three losses. Following the match in the post-match presentation, Ishan said, "Very happy with this win. Just felt happy because what we were looking for from the bowlers (freedom in execution), we did that. Credit goes to the bowlers. (On the debutants) You also have to look at how hungry and motivated they feel. They were working throughout the season with bowling coach Varun Aaron. They were talking to experienced players. Had to give them a chance at their home ground. It was the right move today." He also offered his words of backing to opener Abhishek Sharma, who has been having a patchy IPL so far with two ducks, taking his duck count for this year to seven, an all-time high by an Indian. He has managed just 129 runs in five matches, with only a fifty and a quickfire 48 against KKR to his name as notable knocks. "The way Abhishek plays, he can sometimes get out. Our job is to take it deep and allow him to play freely. He got out, he will be motivated in the next game," he added. Put to bat first, SRH posted 216/6, largely powered by skipper Ishan (91 in 44 balls, with eight fours and six sixes) and cameos from Heinrich Klaasen (40 in 26 balls, with a four and three sixes) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (28 in 13 balls, with four boundaries). During the chase of 217 runs, RR's top-order was ripped apart in the first over by debutant Praful (4/34 in four overs), and RR were left hopeless at 9/5. Donovan Ferreira (69 in 44 balls, with seven fours and three sixes) and Ravindra Jadeja (45 in 32 balls, with five fours) did put a century stand for net-run-rate's sake, but RR was bundled out for 159, with some late support by Sakib (4/24). (ANI)
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