Live Report - IPL 2023: Sunrisers Hyderabad v Rajasthan Royals, Hyderabad

Rajasthan Royals dominated the first half of their batting innings, racing away to 122 for 1 in ten overs. Later, they dominated the first half of their bowling innings, reducing Sunrisers Hyderabad to 52 for 6 in 11 overs. The two periods of play were so brutal that Sunrisers could offer little resistance, and gave last season's silver medalists a thumping 72-run win to kickstart their IPL 2023 campaign.

It was all Royals from the first over of the game. Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler and later Sanju Samson thumped half-centuries to provide their team a record-breaking start. They helped the Royals post their highest powerplay score (85), reach their fastest team hundred (in 7.4 overs) and set the base for a big total. Even though their middle and lower order disappointed, the brutal hitting from the top three ensured Royals made 203 for 5, the first 200+ score this season.

The pitch looked good for a new-look Sunrisers to chase 204 down, but Trent Boult's double-wicket maiden to start the second innings deflated the hosts. From 0 for 2 in one over, the Sunrisers had a Herculean task, and last season's purple-cap winner Yuzvendra Chahal then ran through the line-up with a four-wicket haul to make the rest of the game a mere formality.

He was last season's purple cap holder, and starts his first game of IPL 2023 with a four-wicket haul. That now takes him to Tied 2nd for most IPL wickets (170 with Malinga). Only DJ Bravo is in front.

Chahal relied on his legbreaks barring the Brook wicket to get his scalps. He then had Agarwal toe-end a shot to long off after which Adil Rashid and Bhuvneshwar Kumar were quite easily dismantled. He finishes on 4 for 17 with Sunrisers 96 for 8 in 18 overs.

Last season, Sunrisers conceded a big NRR hit at the start of the competition and were left continuously trying to fix that through the tournament. Looks like they have the same fate this time too. But they'll hope Impact Player Abdul Samad (replacing Farooqi) reduces it as much as possible.

Samad came in at No. 7 after Jason Holder picked off Washington with a short ball and Phillips drove Ashwin straight to cover. As I type this, Chahal takes a second with Agarwal hitting to long off on 27. The sun is setting for Sunrisers.

Yuzvendra Chahal rattles Brook's stumps in the first over after the powerplay and Sunrisers are 38 for 3 after eight overs, and in a whole lotta trouble.

Here's Matt Roller with more on Brook, having watched his innings closely: "A tough debut outing for Harry Brook in the IPL. He came in at 0 for 2 after five balls chasing 204 - a near-impossible situation - but struggled for fluency and was bowled trying to cut a ball from Yuzi Chahal that squeezed under his bottom edge and into his off stump for 13 off 21.

Playing spin will be Brook's biggest challenge this season. He has been significantly stronger against pace (average 37, SR 161) than against spin (average 28, SR 128) in his T20 career to date, and if he is used at No. 4, he will face a lot of high-quality spin throughout the campaign."

Or that's what ESPNcricinfo's forecaster suggests, taking into account match situation, historical data, batters remaining and the bowlers left to have a go.

But good thing cricket is not played on an excel sheet. Brook and Agarwal look to rebuild from a difficult position and have done a half-decent job to see off the powerplay without any more wickets. That had to defend a bit to ensure they didn't lose a third, but over the next few overs have been more enterprising with their stroke making. The task in front of them is Herculean though, and they shall also have one eye on not conceding a massive NRR hit.

A regal yorker third ball. One dot and another stunning catch by Holder at first slip with Boult pushing the ball across. One more dot to end the over and Sunrisers are 0/2 after six deliveries. Boult with a double-wicket over, proving once again that he is one of the best new-ball bowlers out there. Abhishek Sharma and Rahul Tripathi gone for ducks, time for the young wizard Harry Brook to join Mayank Agarwal.

As an aside, Aiden Markram - the franchise's actual captain - has smacked 175 in the ODI against Netherlands today. They'll be hoping he comes to India carrying that form and touch.

Royals smacked 122 in the first ten. But manage to score only 81 in the next ten. Padikkal and Parag fail to cash in on the early momentum. Buttler, Jaiswal and Samson hit fifties but can't play that one big knock Royals were looking for. Holder doesn't even bat, and if it wasn't for some late hits from Shimron Hetmyer, they wouldn't even have got 200.

Breaching that 200-run mark was almost a given for the Royals, almost a matter of "when" they get there, the way they started. But Adil Rashid's tidy spell and a few good overs from Natarajan and Farooqi at the death ensured the Royals had to work extremely hard to get there.

Sunrisers need 204 to win, and they will quietly feel that they're well and truly in the contest. Their bowlers found the energy despite the early bashing and even if they didn't get wickets in clumps, they made the most of the big outfield over here to bowl to a plan once the ball got older.

Time now for both sides to think about their impact players. Royals clearly didn't maximize on their batting resources by the end. Will that come back to bite them? Meanwhile, here's former Sunrisers coach and ESPNcricinfo expert Tom Moody on how he sees Impact Players used.

Here's Matt Roller on Englishman Adil Rashid's SRH debut: "Adil Rashid's dearth of opportunities in the IPL have long been a subject of interest in English cricket. He has been England's leading white-ball spinner for the last eight years, but this afternoon's game is only his second appearance in the tournament after one wicketless game for Punjab Kings in 2021.

He started well on Sunrisers Hyderabad debut, beating Sanju Samson on the outside edge, and had Samson dropped in his final over. But Rajasthan's captain has won the battle overall, taking 20 runs from the 11 balls he faced from Rashid -- whose wait for a first IPL wicket continues."

Jaiswal's dismissal brought in Devdutt Padikkal, moderately surprising given Shimron Hetmyer - another leftie - was in the dugout. He has been below-par after the powerplay in terms of impact, and today he gets blown away by an Umran Malik snorter that is aimed at the stumps.

Interestingly, Hetmyer doesn't come out even then. Assam's Riyan Parag walks out and smacks a four first ball to get the ball rolling. But after that he has not found the gaps adequately. Samson, on the other hand, continues to play free-flowing cricket and moves to 49 in 27 balls. Second powerplay taken with four overs to go.

At first, those headlines about his difficult upbringing brought Yashasvi Jaiswal into the spotlight. But once that was done, Jaiswal has always wanted his cricket to be the reason why he makes the front page, and not stuff from his life beyond the cricket field.

But that would never happen if he didn't back up his rise with some runs off the bat. So he went and became the MVP at the U-19 World Cup. He then smacked double-hundreds for Mumbai in both white-ball and red-ball formats. And finally appears to come of age in the IPL.

Backed all the way by the Royals management when he was retained before the last mega auction, Jaiswal has started this season beautifully. It was his new-ball assault that deflated Sunrisers early. And even though he slowed down after racing to 30 in 13 balls, he finishes his innings with a more-than-respectable 54 in 36 balls. He was moving around his crease to get outside the ball's line and hit the pacers over extra cover. He played a few shots late after spotting the short length, using his blade to hit it behind. And he was strong off his toes as well.

His demise was his desire to keep hitting, out pulling to deep square leg off Farooqi. Farooqi's been expensive but he now has a second. Something for the home fans to rejoice over. Interesting that Padikkal comes in next, not Hetmyer.

Samson meanwhile is cruising at a 200-strike rate, very nonchalantly almost entering the forties without making much noise. He's struck three sixes and two fours so far.

This breaks the Royals' previous record of a team hundred in 8.1 overs (against CSK in 2021). The rate has dropped a bit with Adil Rashid bowling two smart overs, but Umran Malik hasn't had the same impact in his only over yet. He concedes 12, sandwiched between the Rashid overs. Now the Sunrisers will hope for another wicket now, and then a middle-overs squeeze.*

Farooqi finally gets to put on a smile. After conceding 14 in the first over, and then three fours in four balls in his next, he gets a length ball to go through Buttler, and takes top of off stump.

But not before Buttler has smacked a twenty-ball fifty - the fifth-fastest for Royals - and helped the side to their highest powerplay score of all time. They finish on 85 for 1 after six. A solid way to begin their 200th T20 game as a franchise. Buttler out for 54 in 22. Samson joins Jaiswal with Sunrisers calling for a time out at the end of six.

The field will spread out in the next period of play so the challenge will be on Royals to keep the momentum going at a similar rate. Adil Rashid to kickstart the power-powerplay period.

Rajasthan Royals are going at breakneck speed. In four overs, they've hit five fours, three sixes and also ran two threes on this big ground. Jaiswal appears to be the man who is going to play fearlessly. Buttler is playing the ball to its merit, and with the pitch offering nothing (zilch, nada) for the bowlers, he has been belting them to all parts. Could be a long day for the bowlers.

Fazalhaq Farooqi goes for 14, Washington Sundar goes for 19 - with two sixes by Buttler - to start proceedings. And now T Natarajan, who has an extremely promising strike-rate of 11 in the powerplay, concedes four boundaries in five balls. Rajasthan Royals 72/0 in 4.5 overs (Jaiswal 30*, Buttler 41*)

Yashasvi Jaiswal takes strike with Bhuvneshwar Kumar grabbing the new ball. Was that to protect Jos Buttler against Bhuvi? In 14 innings, Bhuvneshwar has dismissed Buttler five times with the batter scoring only 76 runs in 79 balls coming into this game.

Bhuvneshwar starts off with an awry leg-side line, and when he overcorrects, Jaiswal drives down the ground to get the first boundary. Buttler has a quiet three balls too, offering the straight bat with Bhuvi trying to get the ball to swing in from off.

Before the game, there was also a 2-minute silence in memory of former India international Salim Durani. He died overnight in Jamnagar.

Royals lost 13 out of 17 tosses in IPL 2022, and are 0 from 1 in IPL 2023. Sunrisers choose to bowl.

Bhuvneshwar (SRH): "Want to bowl. Looks a good batting wicket though. Few youngsters have impressed. (New coaching staff) They've put in a few new thoughts, want to execute. (Captaincy) Will enjoy today. Then Markram will return. Fazalhaq Farooqi is the fourth overseas player.

Samson (Royals): "Wicket looks good to bowl and bat. We'll be happy to take the positives from last year. (Personal injury etc) When I wear the jersey I feel really happy and great to come to the dressing room. (Impact Player) Sangakkara and I are fortunate to co-ordinate well." Internationals: Jos, Hetmyer, Holder, Boult.

Sunrisers Hyderabad XI: Abhishek Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Rahul Tripathi, Harry Brook, Glenn Phillips (wk), Washington Sundar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar (c), Adil Rashid, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Umran Malik, T Natarajan

Rajasthan Royals XI: Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Devdutt Padikkal, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Riyan Parag, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Trent Boult, KM Asif.

SRH have Rashid again. No it's no longer April 1. We're talking about Adil Rashid, the England leggie who was bought for INR 2 crore. He had one outing for Kings XI Punjab a while back and is back again in the IPL. He strengthens SRH's spin department and could very well play a key role all season. Muralidaran gives him his cap.

Harry Brook - bought for INR 13.25 crore - has a T20 strike-rate of 148 in 99 games and is probably the player who the Indian audience is most looking forward to watch. (Here's how Brook aimed big, failed, and took off like a rocket).

Mayank Agarwal has moved from Punjab Kings, and with no pressures of captaincy like last season, the #OrangeArmy will be hoping he can find the form he had when batting under KL Rahul's captaincy at the Kings.

Glenn Phillips, the NZ wicketkeeper-batter, is the fourth new cap. He's a busy cricketer through the middle overs who can go big at the death. A great opportunity to make a mark before Heinrich Klaasen flies in.

As for the Royals, they have brought in the allrounder they were missing last season. Jason Holder, up against his former team, will boost their fast bowling and he can swing a big long handle too. KM Asif, the right-arm medium-pace bowler, is in as well.