Yuvraj Singh slammed the fastest fifty of his IPL career while Moises Henriques also struck a quickfire fifty as Sunrisers Hyderabad began their title defence in style by posting a massive total of 207 for 4 in the season-opener against Royal Challengers Bangalore.
After being invited to bat first, the defending champions went off to a flying start with their skipper David Warner blasting a couple of boundaries and a gigantic six in the first 9 balls before becoming debutant Aniket Choudhary’s first victim. But the setback did not affect Sunrisers Hyderabad’s innings as Shikhar Dhawan and Moises Henriques fired on all cylinders to set the platform for a big score.
The duo added 74 runs from only 53 balls for the second wicket before Stuart Binny ended the partnership by dismissing Dhawan for 40. However, the momentum was with the home team and they did not take their foot off the battle with Yuvraj Singh and Henriques creating havoc with some mighty shots.
Yuvraj, who was dropped on 27 by S Aravind, was looking the dangerous of the two, playing shots all around the park to leave his former team completely shell-shocked. The 27-ball 58 run partnership for the third wicket was broken when Henriques tried to clear the boundary but only managed to hit it as far as the long-on fielder. The Australian batsman was dismissed after scoring 52 off 37 balls. Yuvraj, meanwhile, continued to play the big shots and completed his fifty off only 23 balls which is his fastest IPL fifty. His knock finally ended on 62 when he was bowled by Tymal Mills. The quickfire knock came off only 27 balls and was studded with 7 fours and 3 sixes. Ben Cutting then finished the innings in style by hitting two sixes in the final over to help his team cross the 200-run mark.
Here is how Twitter reacted to the SRH innings:
Make no mistake, this is vintage @YUVSTRONG12. He's sent a message to the other teams.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) April 5, 2017
https://twitter.com/udupa_tuttu/status/849657829564665856
Coming back to form is small achievement for a man who came to back to life from the claws of cancer. #YuvrajSingh
— Sagar (@sagarcasm) January 19, 2017
Shane Watson's last two IPL games:
7-0-102-0
Both against SRH. #IPL
— absy (@absycric) April 5, 2017
Yuvraj Singh just walked through our bowlers.. No AB, no Kohli.. this is going to be a mountain to climb #PlayBold
— Kwizera (@TherealKwizera) April 5, 2017
Yuvraj finally playing the innings RCB paid him the big bucks for….oh wait #SRHvRCB
— Gaurav Kalra (@gauravkalra75) April 5, 2017
Audience Can someone entertain this match ?
Yuvi-Hold my Beer
Yuvi the classical batsmen ??
— ViRaL Vikku ?? (@Vikkurious) April 5, 2017
Yuvraj destroying RCB bowlers like BJP destroyed SP-Congress-BSP in UP. #SRHvRCB
— Krishna (@Atheist_Krishna) April 5, 2017
https://twitter.com/Shahrcasm/status/849656226107576320
The way @YUVSTRONG12 is playing.. luking like he is playing in his 20s… nd that gesture towards the bowler made my day? #IPL #SRHvRCB
— Azhar Qureshi ?? (@azharq2014) April 5, 2017
RCB fielders dumping their share of drops for the season before Kohli takes over.
— Fake Mitch Johnson (@NotMitchJohnson) April 5, 2017
Just because Shikhar Dhawan is an Australian Jamai, Watson bowling him an easy balls. #SRHvRCB
— Godman Chikna (@Madan_Chikna) April 5, 2017
What's Wrong With Bhumi Pujan Shikhar Dhawan. Why Is He Behaving Like A Batsman? #SRHvRCB #RCBvSRH #Shikhar #IPL10
— Sir Jadeja fan (@SirJadeja) April 5, 2017
This is a bad month for Arvinds #IPL2017
— The Goan Patiala ?. ? (@TheGoanPatiala) April 5, 2017
#RCB's bowling and fielding are as worst as #SRH theme song! #RCBvSRH #ipl
— ??? (@Thanda_soru) April 5, 2017
https://twitter.com/AllTimeBakchod/status/849638474613497856