Dream debuts for Hinge and Hussain end with Rajasthan's first IPL loss

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HYDERABAD, India (AP) — Hyderabad Sunrisers fast bowlers Praful Hinge and Sakib Hussain made dream debuts as they gave Rajasthan Royals their first defeat in the Indian Premier League on Monday.

Hussain picked up 4-24 and Hinge took 4-34 but enjoyed the more unforgettable performance as he became the first bowler in IPL history to grab three wickets in the first over of an innings.

Hyderabad emphatically won by 57 runs after Rajasthan was bowled out for 159 in 19 overs.

“They bowled beautifully," Rajasthan captain Riyan Parag said of the unheralded debutants. "The pressure they had, with the home crowd chanting their name, the way they bowled, it was beautiful.”

The lanky Hinge was playing only his second Twenty20 at senior level, and given the daunting job of opening the bowling against Rajasthan's menacing openers Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Yashasvi Jaiswal.

But Hinge broke Rajasthan's chase in that first over when he dismissed Suryavanshi to an edge behind off the first delivery, Dhruv Jurel when he dragged on, and Lhuan-dre Pretorius to a flick to deep fine leg.

Hinge shocked again when he returned and took out Parag and collapsed Rajasthan to 9-5 in the third over.

Meanwhile, Hussain, who was picked by Kolkata in 2024 but didn't play, bagged Yashasvi Jaiswal in his first over and took three late wickets, including Rajasthan top-scorer Donovan Ferreira on 69 off 44 balls.

“I manifested this,” Hinge said after receiving the player-of-the-match award. “I had written this somewhere that I will take four-five wickets on my debut. I thought of dominating the powerplay. (My favorite wicket was) Suryavanshi. I told people that I would bowl a bouncer to him and get him out. I just wanted to get him out.”

Hussain said: “Every player wishes for a debut like this. It feels very nice.”

Earlier, Hyderabad posted 216-6 after captain Ishan Kishan's blistering 91 off 44 balls and late cameos from Nitesh Kumar Reddy (28) and Salil Arora (24).

Kishan smashed six sixes and eight boundaries and regained the momentum in the middle overs with Heinrich Klaasen, who made 40 off 26 balls.

Kishan looked set to score a century but skewed a return catch to fast bowler Sandeep Sharma in the 14th over.

Abhishek Sharma was out for a duck for the seventh time in T20s this year, slicing the first ball from Jofra Archer to deep backward point.

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