Rajasthan lose despite Watson hat-trick

India

The Sunrisers Hyderabad upstaged the Rajasthan Royals by successfully defending a relatively meagre total, for a 32-run victory, in Thursday's key Indian Premier League fixture in Motera.

The Sunrisers Hyderabad upstaged the Rajasthan Royals by successfully defending a relatively meagre total, for a 32-run victory, in Thursday's key Indian Premier League fixture at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera, Ahmedabad.

Three wickets apiece for Australian all-rounder Shan Watson, who completed the second hat-trick of the 2014 IPL, and homegrown seamer Rajat Bhatia restricted the Sunrisers to a reasonably modest 134 for nine.

Man of the Match Bhuvneshwar Kumar, later, delivered arguably the spell of the tournament. Kumar removed the dangerous Ajinkya Rahane, Bhatia and international duo James Faulkner and Kane Richardson in reasonably quick succession to complete telling figures of four for 14 in four overs.

Rajasthan were reduced to a severely insufficient 102 all out in 19.5 overs, which would have read considerably less had a standalone 22 from the right-handed Steven Smith not afforded some consolation.

The result kept the Royals in third position in the eight-team standings, while Hyderabad climbed to fifth. Friday's IPL fixture will see the Royal Challengers Bangalore clash with the Kings XI Punjab at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

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