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Royal Challengers Bengaluru all-rounder Will Jacks opened up on filling the shoes of legendary South African batter AB de Villiers as franchise's premier overseas batter, saying that the task is "daunting".

It was a game which would be more remembered for the dropped catches more than the ones that were held.

Former Australian all-rounder Shane Watson hailed young Indian uncapped all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy, saying that he is one of his favourite players to watch and lauded his dominance over the experienced spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravichandran Ashwin against Rajasthan Royals.

The International Cricket Council issued the annual team rankings update on Friday, with Australia taking the top spot in Test cricket and India maintaining supremacy in both white-ball formats.

From a maths perspective, Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Gujarat Titans can still reach the IPL playoffs, but they need to ward off inner gremlins on Saturday to notch a mandatory win to keep that dream flickering.

The mountain of runs being scored in the Indian Premier League shows Twenty20 cricket is changing and bowlers must move with the times or be left behind, New Zealand paceman Tim Southee said.

Ahead of his side's Indian Premier League match against Mumbai Indians, Kolkata Knight Riders assistant coach Abhishek Nayar hailed skipper Shreyas Iyer for his mental strength and positive approach to life.

Former India pacer S Sreesanth on Friday backed Hardik Pandya's selection in the T20 World Cup squad, saying the all-rounder's presence alongside Virat Kohli will make for a "great combination" when chasing tricky totals.

Following his side's one-run loss to Sunrisers Hyderabad in their Indian Premier League match, Rajasthan Royals all-rounder Riyan Parag, who has had a breakout season with the franchise, admitted that he is not in his best form since he could not finish the game and has got a lot of areas to improve.

Former all-rounder Ajay Jadeja believes that India skipper Rohit Sharma should push himself to the number three spot and promote Virat Kohli to the opening position during next month's T20 World Cup in the Americas.

Half-centuries from Travis Head and Nitish Kumar Reddy helped Sunrisers Hyderabad edge Rajasthan Royals by one run.

Sunrisers Hyderabad opener Travis Head admitted that the hosts "didn't expect" to end the night at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium with a victory against Rajasthan Royals in the ongoing Indian Premier League.

Scenes from the RR-SRH game...

Following his side's one-run win over Rajasthan Royals, Sunrisers Hyderabad all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy said that when he realised that Bhuvneshwar Kumar was defending 13 runs in the final over, he got the confidence that the veteran pacer could pull off a match-winning performance.

The brief chat between Rohit and Rinku sparked curiosity.

Bhuvneshwar's early strikes coupled with good spells from Pat Cummins and Thangarasu Natarjan in the middle overs saw SRH clinch victory against all odds.

Defending 12 in the final over, Bhuvneshwar trapped Rovman Powell in front of the wicket in the last ball to stop Rajasthan Royal's run chase at 200 for 7 and pull off a heist in the end.

Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson said that even while it seemed his side was cruising to victory he was not certain they would get over the line given the unpredictable nature of the league.

IMAGES from the IPL match between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals played in Hyderabad on Thursday

Worcestershire County Cricket Club is devastated by the sudden passing of their talented left-arm spinner, Josh Baker

While Kohli's experience is invaluable, Agarkar believes that there are enough power-hitters in the line-up if there are high-scoring games.

Rohit is a tough cookie and the genial exterior concealed his real feelings as he said that playing under Pandya is no different from playing under any other captain.

Rinku, who is not having a great IPL season as he is not getting to face enough balls, though made it to the list of reserves.

Dhoni refused a seemingly easy single after hitting the ball, leaving many, including former cricketer Irfan Pathan, perplexed.

Captain Rohit Sharma said the team management was crystal clear about picking as many as four spinners for the T20 World Cup.

Ajit Agarkar defended the selection of the under-fire Hardik Pandya