Sunday 05 / May / 2024
Hyderabad: A collective effort from the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) sealed a 35-run win against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Thursday in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024.
RCB ended their six-match losing streak with a strong outing in all facets of the game. The pitch falling on the slower side played in the favour of the visitors.
Unlike previous games, the destructive opening duo of SRH failed to spread their wings in the powerplay. Will Jacks dismissed Travis Head (1) on the final delivery of the first over.
Abhishek Sharma (31) showed intent but Yash Dayal got the better of the young left-handed opener in the fourth over.
The middle-order set-up that has backed the opening duo failed to pull SRH out of their distress. The spin duo of Swapnil Singh and Karn Sharma made short work of the hosts' middle-order set-up and put RCB in the driver's seat.
Skipper Pat Cummins tried to raise hopes of an unprecedented comeback with his quick-fire 31 off 15 deliveries. Shahbaz Ahmed on the other end continued to wage a lone battle but SRH fell short by 35 runs at the end.
Earlier in the innings, RCB opted to bat first, star batter Virat Kohli and skipper Faf du Plessis made sure to give RCB a strong start with the bat as the opening pair hammered SRH bowlers all around the ground.
Captain Pat Cummins then brought T Natarajan into the attack and the bowler gave his team a much-needed breakthrough as he dismissed the RCB skipper, Faf du Plessis. A slower bouncer by Natarajan got the better of du Plessis.
Mayank Markande was brought into the attack by Cummins, which proved fruitful as he bagged the wicket of Will Jacks, who was never looking stable at the crease.
Rajat Patidar with his sensational onslaught over Mayank Markande's third over of the night as he hammered the bowler for 27 runs. The star batter Patidar also brought up his 50-partnership with Kohli while also smashing fifty in 19 balls.
Jaydev Unadkat got the big wicket for SRH, as he dismissed the in-form Patidar on the very next ball after completing his fifty.
Kohli slammed a resilient fifty within 37 balls, however, the former RCB skipper was dismissed by Unadkat with a power-less shot after scoring 51 runs in 43 deliveries. Unadkat bagged his third wicket of the night in his 100th IPL match, as he dismissed Mahipal Lomror.
After losing wickets at regular intervals, RCB was successful in scoring 206/7 in 20 overs.
Brief score: Royal Challengers Bengaluru 206/7 (Virat Kohli 51, Rajat Patidar 50; Jaydev Unadkat 3-30) vs Sunrisers Hyderabad 170/8 (Shahbaz Ahmed 40*, Pat Cummins 31; Cameron Green 2-12).
