SRH jumps to fourth

Sunrisers Hyderabad moved into fourth place in the Indian Premier League after beating Rajasthan Royals by 57 runs in Hyderabad on April 13. (espncricinfo.com) Sunrisers made 216 for 6, with captain Ishan Kishan scoring 91 from 44 balls, Heinrich Klaasen adding 40 from 26, and Nitish Kumar Reddy making 28 from 13. Rajasthan were then bowled out for 159 in 19 overs chasing 217. (espncricinfo.com) Praful Hinge, playing only his second Twenty20 match, took 4 for 34 and shared eight wickets with fellow debutant Sakib Hussain, who finished with 4 for 24. Donovan Ferreira top-scored for Rajasthan with 69 from 44 balls, and Ravindra Jadeja made 45 from 32. (espncricinfo.com) The result ended Rajasthan’s four-match winning start but did not knock them off the top of the table. After five matches, Rajasthan have 8 points and a net run rate of 0.889. (espncricinfo.com) Punjab Kings are second with 7 points from four matches because one game ended with no result, and Royal Challengers Bengaluru are third with 6 points from four matches. Sunrisers have 4 points from five matches and moved ahead of other teams on net run rate. (espncricinfo.com) That climb matters in a 10-team league where the top four reach the playoffs. Sunrisers had been sixth after losing to Punjab Kings on April 11, and this win pushed them back into the qualification places two days later. (sports.yahoo.com 1) (sports.yahoo.com 2) The standings remain tight below the top three. Delhi Capitals, Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants also have 4 points, but Sunrisers’ net run rate of 0.576 keeps them above Delhi’s 0.322, Gujarat’s -0.029 and Lucknow’s -0.427. (espncricinfo.com) Rajasthan’s loss also changed the feel of the table because it was their first defeat of the season after wins over Chennai Super Kings, Gujarat Titans, Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bengaluru. They still stayed first because no other team has reached 8 points. (espncricinfo.com) For Sunrisers, the immediate picture is simpler than the margin suggests: they are 2-3 after five matches, back in the top four, and still chasing the three teams above them rather than trying to recover from the bottom half. (iplt20.com)