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Riding on Ajinkya Rahane’s fifty Rajasthan Royals beat SunRisers Hyderabad by 6 wickets to notch up their fourth consecutive win in this edition of the IPL. Chasing a modest 128 for a win,

the table-toppers made heavy weather of the run chase, achieving the target on the last delivery of the match. The SRH bowlers did well to take the match thus far but Rahane’s 56-ball 62

proved to be the difference between the two sides. Man-of-the-match Rahane, who registered his first half-century of the this season, and Sanju Samson (26) worked well for their 64-run

opening stand before a few wickets made the match exciting in the end. RAJASTHAN’S CHASE It started in the 11th over when a Ravi Bopara delivery saw wicketkeeper Naman Ojha make a diving

catch to send back Samson for 26. The wicket did dry up the flow of runs for the visitors, but the lack of runs on the board helped their cause as Rahane stayed on with skipper Steven Smith

(13) to bring them closer to a win. Smith though was done in by leg-spinner Karn Sharma in the 14th over and Bopara struck for the second time in the very next over to get Karun Nair (1)

caught and bowled. Rahane, whose knock was lace with 9 boundaries, couldn’t enjoy taking the team to the finish line as Trent Boult got the top-scorer clean bowled in the 19th over. Needing

5 to defend of the final 6 deliveries, Kumar bowled well but James Faulkner (6 not out) hit the winning four off the final ball. SUNRISERS INNINGS Earlier, backing Smith’s decision to field

first on a slowish track, RR bowlers Dhawal Kulkarni and Pravin Tambe picked up two wickets each to restrict SRH to 127 for five in 20 overs. Sunrisers did not have the best of starts after

losing their top four batsmen for just 35 runs but a 52-run fourth wicket partnership between Ojha (25) and Eoin Morgan (27) did put a stop to the wicket-fall though only for a while. In the

end, Bopara (23 not out) and Reddy (11 not out) did try to get maximum hits in the bag but the Rajasthan bowlers did well to restrict them to only 37 runs in the last five overs. The Tom

Moody-coached Sunrisers Hyderabad are now placed seventh in the standings, above Mumbai Indians, with a win and two losses in their three games so far.