Rajasthan Royals batter Riyan Parag climbed to the fourth spot in the IPL 2024 Orange Cap list after scoring a blistering 77 off 49 balls against the Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Hyderabad. Parag hit four sixes and eight fours to take his overall runs tally this season to 409 in 10 matches. The right-hander’s exploits, however, were not enough to take RR over the line. The table toppers fell short of the 202-run target by 1 run.
Needing two to win off the last delivery, Bhuvneshwar Kumar (3/41) trapped Rovman Powell (27) with a full toss to leave RR stranded at 200 for seven while chasing a target of 202.
Opting to bat, Nitish Reddy (76 not out) and Travis Head (58) produced explosive fifties, while Heinrich Klassen made an unbeaten 19-ball 42 to power Sunrisers Hyderabad to 201 for three.
Things were looking up when Bhuvneshwar removed Jos Buttler and Sanju Samson for ducks in the opening over to leave RR at 1 for 2.
However, youngsters Yashasvi Jaiswal (67) and Riyan Parag (77) came up with counterattacking fifties on way to a massive 134-run partnership to lay the foundation of the runchase.
But once the duo was back in the hut, Shimron Hetmyar (13) hit a four and a six as it seemed like a regulation chase but T Natarajan got rid of Hetmyar, who perished at long-on and then skipper Pat Cummins removed Dhruv Jurel, who was caught at deep square leg in the 19th over.
Orange Cap List IPL 2024 after SRH vs RR
The Orange Cap list is still led by CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, who has notched up 509 runs in 10 matches at a strike rate of 146. The only other cricketer to have crossed the 500-run mark this year is RCB’s Virat Kohli. The former India skipper has scored 500 runs at a strike rate of 147.
Third in the list is GT’s Sai Sudharsan with 418 runs. Chasing Parag are LSG captain KL Rahul (406) and DC captain Rishabh Pant (398).
Another player who entered the top 10 list is SRH opener Travis Head. The left-hader scored 58 off 44 balls to take his overall tally to 396 in 9 matches. He, however, has the best strike rate (194) among all batters in the top 10 of the Orange Cap list.
