Following the all-round show, Sunrisers Hyderabad’s registered their first win by 35 runs in the Indian Premier League opener of the tenth edition against Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Bangalore was rolled-out for 172 runs after Chris Jordon hits the bull’s-eye to catch Yuzvendra Chahal (3 off 7 balls) short of the crease.
For Hyderabad, Ashish Nehra, Rashid Khan Bhuvneshwar Kumar picked two wickets each as Deepak Hooda and Bipul Sharma claimed wicket apiece.
The tournament opener had grabbed the headlines given to the conditions made available for the much-anticipated match between the defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad and finalist Royal Challengers Bangalore.
The first game witnessed pure carnage form the hosts’ batsmen on the featherbed as the sound of willow has become a norm before balls measured the long distance in the night skies for the crowd catches before bowlers delivered in style.
While chasing the target of 208 runs, Royal Challengers had a perfect start to its innings as Chris Gayle alongside his batting partner Mandeep Singh put on the skating shoes – to keep the scoreboard ticking at the pace – to post 52 runs for the first wicket.
However, the scenario changed in the sixth and seventh over respectively when both the openers returned to the pavilion as Sunrisers bowlers pegged back Bangalore.
On the two consecutive deliveries in 18th over, Ashish Nehra picked two wickets in the form of Bangalore skipper Shane Watson on 22 of 17 balls before uprooting the leg stump of Sreenath Arvind (0 off 2 balls).
As the wickets kept falling, Bangalore was 128 for five in 14th over when Sachin Baby (1 off 3 balls) gave a regulation catch to Moises Henriques when it came up with leading edge in the 30-yard circle off the bowling of Bipul Sharma.
After wicket-keeper Naman Ojha dropped a swirling catch of Stuart Binny on the bowling of Bhunveshwar Kumar, it was Yuvraj Singh, who took a catch and point region to wrap up Binny’s innings on 11 off 10 balls.
The left-handed Travis Head was sent back to pavilion on a Wrong’Un by Rashid Khan when the latter was caught by Yuvraj Singh after the ball took top-edge of the bat when Head attempted a full-blooded sweep shot.
In twelfth over, Ben Cutting pulled a spectacular run out when he hit the stumps directly from the fine leg boundary to dismiss dangerous looking wicket-keeper batsman Kedar Jadhav (31 off 16). He smashed four boundaries and a solitary six.
Jadhav posted a 56-run stand for the third wicket with Travis Head to keep Bangalore’s hopes alive at one stage during the contest.
Off-spinner Deepak Hooda was delighted after swashbuckling Chris Gayle was caught at the long-off by David Warner on 32 off 21 balls which included three sixes and two boundaries.
Before the fist pump from Warner, Hooda’s previous ball – a juicy full toss– was dispatched into one of the stands.
Rising to the occasion, Rashid Khan from Afghanistan picked his debut wicket when he bowled Mandeep Singh (24 off 16) after inside edge crashed into the stumps to see Bangalore 52 for one in the sixth over.
Earlier, Shane Watson won the toss and elected to bowl first against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the inaugural match of the tenth edition of IPL and set the target of 208 for Royal Challengers Bangalore thanks to explosive Yuvraj Singh, who had smashed his quickest fifty in 23 balls in IPL after Moses Henriques 37-ball fifty helped his side to post a decent total on board.
In the 13th over, Sreenath Arvind dropped a sitter of Yuvraj at the fine leg region on the bowling of left-arm Aniket Choudhary when Punjab-born batsman was batting on 27 off 12 balls.
After Yuvraj’s blitz all-rounder Ben Cutting smoked two sixes to score unbeaten 16 of six balls alongside Deepak Hooda, who scored 16 off 12 balls.
However, with the change in variation Tymal Mills undone left-handed Yuvraj in the penultimate over of the first innings as the damage was already done.
The whirlwind knock of 67 off 27 balls from Yuvraj was laced with seven boundaries and three sixes at the strike-rate of 229.63.
“It’s a very good batting wicket and we’ve to bowl well,” Henriques told Danny Morrison during the innings break.
For Bangalore, Stuart Binny, Aniket Choudhary, Yuzvendra Chahal and Tymal Mills picked a wicket each.
There was some remarkable effort on the boundary line when Mandeep Singh dived full length to his right, more like a plane – to save a certain six when Yuvraj Singh was batting. Mandeep conceded just a single with his superb effort.
Moises Henriques brought up his fifty in the fifteenth over of the innings by smoking the ball for a maximum.
Earlier, Henriques was caught smartly by Sachin Baby at the long-off boundary on the bowling of Yuzvendra Chahal on 52 off 37 deliveries which included two sixes and three boundaries.
In the eleventh over, it was right arm medium fast bowler Stuart Binny, who brought the breakthrough in RCB’s camp when the latter sent Shikhar Dhawan back to pavilion on 40 off 31 balls which was laced with five boundaries.
Dhawan looked threatened while playing some fine strokes to keep the scoreboard ticking.
While coming down the ground with a full-blooded smash, Dhawan found the safe pair of hands of Sachin Baby in the deep.
Toying with the bowling of RCB, Dhawan put on a 74-run partnership with Henriques for the second wicket.
Royal Challengers Bangalore stand-in skipper Shane Watson conceded 17 runs in his first over which was sixth overall when left-handed batsman Shikhar Dhawan struck him four boundaries.
Earlier, on the bowling of Aniket Choudhary, in second over of the match, David Warner (14 off 8 balls) played a poor shot and was caught at the backward point by Mandeep Singh, who jumped to the perfection – to dismiss Warner, who had a rough Test series against India recently.