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Shane Watson claimed a hat-trick as Rajasthan Royals restricted Sunrisers Hyderabad to 134 for 9 in the IPL match in Ahmedabad on Thursday.
However, his effort was in vain, as Hyderabad came back with a vengeance to dismiss the former champions for 102 and win by 32 runs for only their third victory this season.
India pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the wrecker-in-chief, finishing with figures of 4 for 14 from his four overs.
Dale Steyn chipped in with two for 31 while Karn Sharma, Moises Henriques and Irfan Pathan took a wicket each as Hyderabad won with a delivery to spare.
Earlier, Watson destroyed Hyderabad with a split hat-trick.
He dismissed Shikhar Dhawan with the last delivery of his first over and then sent back Moises Henriques (9) and Karn Sharma (0) when he returned for his second over later in the innings.
In his last match, too, the burly Australian had taken three wickets in one over to trigger Kolkata Knight Riders’ batting collapse.
Hyderabad looked down and out after posting a modest total. But things changed once Bhuvneshwar provided the breakthrough with the third ball of Rajasthan’s innings and took three wickets in the 18th over to dash whatever hopes the home side may have entertained of a late fightback.
Pacers Bhuvneshwar and Steyn were disciplined with their line and length while Karn and Amit Mishra used the spin-friendly conditions to the fullest.
Bhuvneshwar gave Hyderabad the perfect start by having Ajinkya Rahane (0) out to the third ball and then Steyn had Karun Nair (12) caught behind.
Karn bamboozled in-form Sanju Samson (16) with a peach of a delivery and then Henriques got the prized wicket of Watson by having the rival skipper caught behind.
Hyderabad were right back in the match and started calling the shots. David Warner made the score 78 for five by sending back Stuart Binny with a direct hit.
Steven Smith (22) and seasoned Rajat Bhatia had the herculean of getting Rajasthan out of the rut with 54 runs off the last five overs.
But Steyn dismissed Smith and Bhuvneshwar saw the back of James Faulkner and Rajat Bhatia (4) in successive balls end the contest.
Earlier, it was a pathetic batting display from Hyderabad. More than the Rajasthan bowling, it was poor shot selection that let the Hyderabad batsmen them down. Except skipper Dhawan (33) and Pathan none applied themselves as Watson (3-13) and Rajat Bhatia (3-23) shared six wickets.
It was a split hat-trick for Watson. He dismissed Dhawan with the last delivery of his first over and then sent back Moises Henriques (9) and Karn Sharma (0) when he returned for his second over later in the innings.
In his last match also the burly Australian had taken three wickets in one over to trigger Kolkata Knight Riders’ batting collapse.
Apart from Dhawan, Irfan Pathan's a-run-a ball unbeaten 21 helped Hyderabad put up a modest total.
Dhawan, who has struggled for runs thus far, seemed to have found his touch back as he hit some sweetly-timed boundaries. His cuts and drives, predominantly on the off-side, reached the boundary ropes in jiffy.
However, he could not capitalise on the stupendous start and was back in the dug-out in somewhat strange fashion. One from Watson kept slightly low and a faint edge carried the ball onto the stumps. His 20-ball knock had seven boundaries.
In came Lokesh Rahul (18) and he too began confidently, dispatching Dhawal Kulkarni for two boundaries before Aaron Finch (9) joined his captain in the dug-out, thanks to a stunning catch by Ajinkya Rahane off Bhatia.
The Australian neither got the power nor elevation in his shot and Rahane latched on to the chance by diving forward.
Rahul squandered the good start by playing a reckless shot, giving Bhatia his second wicket.
It was left to new-man in David Warner (6) and Naman Ojha (17) to provide impetus to the innings. However, the former did not help the cause of his side by departing early.
Leg-spinner Pravin Tambe, star of Rajatshan's previous match with a hat-trick, foxed the charging Australian left-hander with a turning ball and Sanju Samson had an easy stumping to do.
Ojha left his side in tatters when he was bowled by Bhatia while attempting to work the ball on the on-side.
Watson then piled on the Hyderabad’s misery by completing his hat-trick.
Image: Bhuvneshwar Kumar celebrates the dismissal of Ajinkya Rahane
Photograph: BCCI