Royal Challengers Bengaluru came up with a stunning all-round display to shock crowd favourite Sunrisers Hyderabad and record a 35-run win in an IPL league match at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium here on Thursday.
RCB’s bowling performance served as a reminder that the SRH batting line-up can be brittle in the face of accurate, if not unplayable, bowling, raising hopes for other teams as the championship heads for the business end.
The home team was straight away under pressure in the chase, needing 207 for victory, with off-spinner Will Jacks inducing a poor stroke to remove the dangerous Travis Head of the sixth ball of the innings.
Soon, southpaw Abhishek Sharma’s cameo ended, after he mistimed a pull off Yash Dayal to be caught behind. Then, left-arm spinner Swapnil Singh dismissed Aiden Markram, trapping him LBW with a full-toss.
RCB was back on top again as Heinrich Klaasen, who hit the previous ball from Swapnil for a six over long-on, perished trying to repeat the stroke.
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 was a formality as RCB notched up a much-awaited win.
HIGHLIGHTS - RCB vs SRH
Earlier, Rajat Patidar’s brilliance at the top of the order, a not-so-fluent half-century by Virat Kohli and a cameo by Cameron Green helped RCB, electing to bat, post a challenging total.
Strangely, after the power-play, Kohli struggled to find his desired form and failed to score a boundary.
However, Patidar was just brilliant at the other end, with a 20-ball half-century, hitting leg-spinner Mayank Markande for four huge sixes in the 11th over of the innings.
Jaydev Unadkat was the pick of the bowlers with his three-wicket haul, including the prize scalps of Patidar and Kohli, slowing down the pace of the game.
RCB scored 64 runs from the last five overs, losing three wickets thanks mainly to some lusty blows by Green.
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