Defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by 35 runs to start their Indian Premier League (IPL) campaign on Wednesday night with a big win.

RCB won the toss and elected to field first leaving SRH to set a 208 run target.

Rashid Khan Arman, who is part of SRH along with fellow Afghan Mohammad Nabi, shined on Wednesday night for his team taking two wickets. 

Yuvraj Singh’s 27-ball 62 also provided SRH the fire-power to notch 207/4 against RCB at the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium in Uppal. Then some stellar bowling from debutant Rashid helped SRH dismiss RCB for 172.

RCB lost by 35 runs to SRH. It was the 10th match between the two teams in IPL.

Rashid marked his debut with two crucial wickets, becoming the first player from Afghanistan to play in the cash-rich league.

With figures of 2/36 in four overs, the wickets of Mandeep Singh in his very first over and Travis Head later in the second spell made the debut extremely special.

It wasn’t, however, until the sixth over when Rashid was brought into the attack. Bowling his first ever over in the IPL, he struck gold.

The 18-year-old Rashid had a debut to remember. He sent Mandeep back into the dugout with the fourth ball of the sixth over.

Trying to give himself room at the crease to attempt to play on the backfoot, Mandeep was beaten by Rashid’s delivery, getting an inside edge that connected with the leg-stump, before rattling the bails off. Mandeep had gone on to score a quickfire 24 runs off 16 balls, of which 20 runs came in boundaries alone.

Rashid picked his second wicket when he was re-introduced into the bowling attack in the 13th over of the innings in what was his third over.

Travis Head, who had belted Rashid for a four in the fourth ball of the over, failed to read the ball and lofted the ball straight into Yuvraj Singh’s hands at long-on. Head scored 30 runs in 22 balls that included three fours, with the team total stranded at 126/4.

Rashid finished his four-over spell with 2/36. In terms of runs conceded, he was indeed one of the costliest bowlers in Wednesday night’s match, but his fine bowling left the batsmen bemused which, in the end, justified his costly purchase in the IPL Player Auction.

“I got inspired seeing Afghanistan play the 2015 World Cup,” said the leggie who was brought up playing on the streets of Jalalabad, the capital of eastern Nangarhar province. “We had no facilities there. Although, now they’ve improved.”

Rating his recent eight-wicket haul against Ireland at Greater Noida as his best performance, he said the spell helped his team qualify to the next level.

Nabi meanwhile followed Wednesday night's match from the bench.

At the end of the match, David Warner the SRH’s captain said that “Yuvi was superb. Whatever he’s been doing in the season he’s had has been fantastic. Dhawan’s been working hard. He spoke to me the other day saying he’s in good touch. What a fantastic prospect (Rashid Khan). On the world stage, in the IPL.”

“It would be fantastic for Afghanistan,” he said.

“It was fantastic. The guys backed themselves. We knew it was going to be a good wicket. We tried to be positive in the first six. I think the stats went into my head. That’s the way the game goes. You’re always mindful with a power packed batting line-up like that,” he added.

Of the five Afghans selected for last month’s IPL auction, Nabi and Rashid were bought.

Before the start of the IPL, Rashid and Nabi spoke in an interview on IPL’s website about their bond with each other and their eagerness to make this IPL count and why the whole of Afghanistan will be glued to TV sets once the IPL ride begins.

“It is an honor for both of us to have been selected in the IPL. Everyone was waiting for the auction when we were named in the IPL Auction pool.