Kane Williamson's return to cricket has been overshadowed by his controversial dismissal on Wednesday.
Williamson finally returned to the crease, after addressing his elbow issues of the past few years, with Sunrisers Hyderabad as they took on Rajasthan Royals in the IPL.
However, the Black Caps captain and Hyderabad had a tough night in Pune, with Williamson dismissed for just two runs in the second over and the Sunrisers losing by 61 runs.
Williamson's dismissal was questionable though, with the batsman edging a ball behind which came off the keeper's hands before Devdutt Padikkal dove from the slips to take the catch.
The wicket was reviewed by the umpires with replays appearing to show the ball touching the ground before Padikkal controlled it.
The third umpire didn't see it that way though, and sent Williamson packing.
Meanwhile, Royals' captain Sanju Samson hammered 55 off just 27 balls to lead his side to victory.
Samson helped Rajasthan amass 6-210 off their 20 overs on Wednesday after they were put in to bat. In reply, Hyderabad couldn't get near the target, struggling to 7-149.
Rajasthan got off to a good start with Jos Buttler (35) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (20) putting on 58 for the opening stand, with the English star Buttler smashing three fours and three sixes, and Jaiswal two fours and a six.
With Rajasthan down to 2-75 in the ninth over, Samson took charge, smacking three fours and five sixes to get his campaign underway. He reached his half-century off only 25 deliveries.
Samson put on 73-run partnership with Devdutt Padikkal, who scored 41 off 29, hitting four fours and two sixes. Umran Malik broke their partnership as he went on to pick up 2-39.
Shimron Hetmyer provided some fun in the denouement, clocking 32 off 13 balls, including two fours and three sixes, to push the score past 200 and beyond Hyderabad's reach.
Hyderabad's chase began horribly, reduced to 3-9 in just 4.5 overs.
Prasidh Krishna did the damage, taking 2-16 in four overs, dismissing Williamson for two and and hard-hitting Rahul Tripathi for a three-ball duck.
Fellow Kiwi Trent Boult (2-23) also trapped Nicholas Pooran lbw after he toiled for nine balls without scoring.
Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal picked up 3-22, taking young batsmen Abhishek Sharma (9) and Abdul Samad (4) as five of the top six batters didn't reach double figures.
Aiden Markram, batting at number five, scored a consolation half-century on his debut for the Sunrisers, but his 57 not out off 41 deliveries, and Washington Sundar's 40 off 14 proved not enough.
"They are a difficult team to stop," conceded Williamson.
"For us, we need to look at it logically and there are a number of things to improve on. T20 cricket throws some curveballs at you and it can be fickle."
- Additional reporting by AAP
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