In Game 2 of the IPL (Indian Premier League) 2025, the Sunrisers Hyderabad faced off against the Rajasthan Royals. The match took place at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on March 23. SRH had to bat first after losing the toss, which always comes with its own set of challenges.
Travis Head opened the batting alongside Abhishek Sharma. Unfortunately, Sharma didn’t last long at the crease before he was dismissed. But Travis Head picked up the slack nicely, putting on a fantastic show with a quick-fire 67 runs off just 31 balls. Ishan Kishan really shined in this match, finishing his innings on a stunning unbeaten score of 106 runs from 47 deliveries. When all was said and done in the first innings, SRH posted a formidable total of 286 runs.
As Rajasthan Royals took to the chase, they got off to a rough start. Not the best day for Yashasvi Jaiswal and Riyan Parag, as both went back to the pavilion early, which left the team in a bit of a hole. Things looked grim, but then Sanju Samson and Dhruv Jurel stepped up to the plate, showing great skill and resilience. Samson scored 66 runs, while Jurel followed closely with 70 runs. They fought hard, but in the end, the Royals managed just 242 runs, falling short of the target by 44 runs. With this win, SRH celebrated their first victory of the season.
After the match, Rajasthan’s captain, Riyan Parag, shared his thoughts on the team’s performance. He expressed that he would have liked the Sunrisers’ total to be lower than 286 runs.
“It was tough, just like I expected. Hats off to SRH, but we certainly could’ve done a better job,” Parag mentioned. He pointed out that they’d need to sit down and discuss how they could improve moving forward. Addressing the decision to bowl first, he said, “We all collectively made that choice, and I still think it was the right call. We just needed to execute our plans more effectively. When you see such a high score like 280 on the board, it’s a lot to chase. Before the match, I thought if we could keep them to around 200, that would be good. I thought 220-240 would’ve been a fair score to chase,” he added during the post-match presentation.
Looking ahead, after their loss in this match, the Rajasthan Royals will be gearing up to face the defending champions, Kolkata Knight Riders. This next exciting clash is scheduled to take place at Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati on Wednesday, March 26th. The Royals will be looking to bounce back strong and put their first points on the board.
