Rajasthan Royals 2-146 (Shane Watson 98*, Rahul Dravid 36, Dale Steyn 1-15) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad 9-144 (Darren Sammy 60, Amit Mishra 21, James Faulkner 5-20) by eight wickets.

A lethal bowling spell by James Faulkner murdered Sunrisers Hyderabad batsmen and Shane Watson gave a heavy punch while batting as Rajasthan Royals won easily.

Sunrisers Hyderabad managed 144 runs for the loss of nine wickets at the end of the stipulated 20 overs and Rajasthan Royals plundered 146 with eight wickets in hand and 13 balls to spare.

James Faulkner, the left arm pace bowler of Rajasthan Royals, was declared ‘Player of the match’ for his match winning bowling spell of 5-20.

The 36^th match of the Indian Premier League was played on Saturday, April 27, 2013, at Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur.

The skipper of Sunrisers Hyderabad, Kumar Sangakkara, won the toss, opted to bat first and that proved to be a horrible decision. Their top order batsmen completely surrendered against the pace trio of James Faulkner, Ajit Chandila and Kevon Cooper. The visitors were six down for just 29 runs in 6.1 overs with all their solid batsmen back in the pavilion. Akshath Reddy, Shikhar Dhawan, Kumar Sangakkara, Hanuma Vihari, Karan Sharma and Thisara Perera were unable to reach the double figures.

Darren Sammy and Amit Mishra fought a bit for the lost pride while utilising all their efforts. They scored 28 runs in the next three overs with 4 fours and Sammy was the most attacking of the two who hit the first six of the innings in the 13^th over. They took the score to 87 in 14.1 overs when Mishra left the field for 21 and was replaced by Ashish Reddy. The latter was dropped twice by the rival fielders but was finally caught by Ajinkya Rahane off Stuart Binny for 14. Darren Sammy attained his fifty in the 18^th over with a four and was declared leg before wicket off James Faulkner for 60 from 41 balls with 1 six and 8 fours. Dale Steyn was at the other end with 18 off 8 with 1 six and 2 fours as Sunrisers Hyderabad scored 144 with one wicket remaining in 20 overs.

James Faulkner was the star performer with the ball after grabbing five wickets, Ajit Chandila held two whereas Kevon Kooper and Stuart Binny claimed one wicket each.

Rajasthan Royals lost their first wicket at seven when Ajinkya Rahane was caught behind by Sangakkara off Dale Steyn for one run. Shane Watson joined in next with his captain, Rahul Dravid, and they scored 21 runs at the end of the fifth over. The latter geared up in the next over with a couple of fours and Watson followed him with the same result in the 7^th. The duo added another 17 runs in the 11^th over with a six each from the both batsmen when Rahul Dravid was caught by Hanuma Vihari at deep mid wicket off Thisrara Perera for 36 off 35 with 1 six and 4 fours as the score touched 81 in 12.5 overs.

Stuart Binny was the next batsman in as Watson took over from there and punished Ishant Sharma for 19 runs in the 15^th over comprising 1 six and 3 fours. He also smashed his fifty in the same over and accumulated 14 runs in the 16^th over with 1 six and 2 fours. Shane Watson continued with his assault by hitting 1 six and 2 fours in the 18^th over and won the match for his team. He thrashed unbeaten 98 runs off 53 mere deliveries with 4 lofty sixes and 13 well timed fours as Rajasthan Royals piled up 146 for the loss of just two wickets in 17.5 overs.

Rajasthan Royals triumphed in the one sided encounter with a clear margin of eight wickets and gathered two points.