Royal Challengers Bengaluru delivered a stunning all-round performance to upset crowd-favourite Sunrisers Hyderabad, registering a 35-run victory in their IPL league match, at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium on Thursday.
The visitors’ performance also served a reminder that the SRH batting line-up can be brittle in the face of accurate, if not unplayable, bowling and also raised hopes for other teams as the championship heads for the business-end.
Chasing 207 for victory, the home team was straightaway under pressure with Will Jacks inducing a poor stroke from the dangerous Impact Player Travis Head off the sixth ball of the innings.
Soon, fellow-opener Abhishek Sharma’s cameo ended, mistiming a pull off Yash Dayal only to be caught behind, before SRH’s Impact Player, the left-arm spinner Swapnil Singh, trapped Aiden Markram leg-before with a low full-toss.
RCB was back on top again when Heinrich Klaasen, who had hit the previous ball from Swapnil for a six over long-on, perished trying to repeat the stroke off the next.
Later, leg-spinner Karn Sharma had Nitish Kumar Reddy bowled, missing a reverse sweep, and then took a smart return catch to send back the dangerous Abdul Samad to reduce SRH to 85 for six in 9.1 overs. The rest of the innings was a formality as RCB notched up a much-needed victory.
Coming good
Earlier, Rajat Patidar’s brilliance at the top of the order, an unusually slow half-century by Virat Kohli, and a cameo in the final overs by Cameron Green helped Royal Challengers score a challenging 206 for seven.
Though Kohli struggled to get going after all his boundaries came within the first six overs, Patidar compensated by scoring a 20-ball half-century that included four sixes off leg-spinner Mayank Markande in the 11th over of the innings.
Jaydev Unadkat was the pick of the SRH bowlers with a three-wicket haul, including the prize scalps of Patidar and Kohli. RCB scored 64 runs from the last five overs, mainly due to some lusty blows from Green.
