Yet another great survive in this year’s edition of Indian Premier League (IPL). Last night (May 17), it was Mumbai Indians (MI) and now, it is Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), who pulled off a victory in a thrilling manner to stay alive in the tourney.
It was a collective team effort from the Royal Challengers to outsmart Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in a high-scoring thriller at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
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Royal Challengers Bangalore – ABD, Ali and Colin’s brilliance pushes RCB to a massive 218:
Initially, it was Kane Williamson, who won the toss and asked the home side to bat first. Justifying the toss, Sandeep Sharma gave the initial breakthrough by scalping Parthiv Patel in the first over of the game. However, it was the moment which opened the gates for RCB.
The big man, AB de Villiers came out with all guns blazing while Virat Kohli disappointed yet again. However, the disappointment was just for a moment as Moeen Ali joined AB de Villiers in thwacking the SRH bowlers to all corners of the park.
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For a moment, both looked like taking RCB to the highest tally ever on the board.
However, Rashid Khan yet again pulled things back by sending AB de Villiers back to the hut while Mandeep Singh followed the superman without troubling the scorers. But, it was once again Colin de Grandhomme, who has been the man for RCB as he smashed a scintillating 40-run knock off 17 balls.
The stunning effort from de Villiers, Ali and de Grandhomme pushed Royal Challengers to a massive total of 218 runs on the board.
Rashid has been the pick of the bowlers for SRH with three wickets to his name at the expense of just 27 runs.
Sunrisers Hyderabad – Kane and Manish pushes hard but RCB’s death bowling seals it:
In reply to the chase, Shikhar Dhawan and Alex Hales got visitors a good start but unfortunately, couldn’t quite carry on thus leaving the burden on middle-order.
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However, Williamson showed that there is a place for a class in the Twenty20 cricket with his amazing strokes while the local lad, Manish Pandey has been exceptional with his much-needed strokes.
Both the players kept Royal Challengers at the bay. Williamson, in particular, knocked the ball beautifully – to find the fence often than not.
Well, when the things looked like slipping from the hand, Pandey joined Williamson in the onslaught but the tired duo just couldn’t finish it for their side in a harmless match.
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Though SRH batsmen fought hard, it was the stunning piece of bowling by Tim Southee in the death overs and the equally brilliant Mohammed Siraj pulled it back for the home side. When it required 20 off the final over, Sirj grabbed Williamson in his first ball thus drawing curtains on SRH hopes. He conceded only five runs off the over to finish the game.
However, it was a massive night in the IPL which gave an eye feast for the spectators. Both the teams produced the top-class cricket throughout 40 overs to entertain the crowd to the core.
Brief scores:
RCB: 218/6; AB de Villiers 69, Moeen Ali 65; Rashid Khan 3/27
SRH: 204/3; Kane Williamson 81, Manish Pandey 62, Chahal 1/28