Sunrisers opener and captain David Warner showed no respect to Royal Challengers Bangalore bowling attack, hitting a whirlwind 50-ball 92 and helping his team post an imposing 194 for 5 in their IPL match on Saturday.
Chasing the target, RCB only managed to post 179/6 with Lokesh Rahul top scoring with a 28-ball 51. Ashish Nehra, Mustafizur Rahman, Barinder Sran, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Moises Henriques finished with one wicket apiece.
Commentary:
Two dot balls, two singles, a four and a wicket. A terrific over from Bhuvi! This is only the sixth time a team has defended a total successfully. And that means, RCB have lost four of their six games so far. SRH win comfortably in the end, by 15 runs.
And the chances of a miracle happening goes down considerably as Fizz returns to the attack. Jadhav thumps a low full toss over midwicket for a six -- they need more of that and soon. Another six will make it interesting. But Fizz bowls another peach, too good for Jadhav to get a bat on. Eleven off this one and that means RCB need 22 off the last.
RCB need a miracle - 33 runs required from 12 balls
Baby perishes trying up the tempo -- mistimes a low full toss and Dhawan manages to hold on to that of long on. And Jadhav's manages to get a six off the next. There was no power or timing behind that one but just about manages to evade the outstretched hands of the fielder posted at square leg. Super over this, for SRH and Nehra -- only 10 and the wicket of Baby.
RCB 152/4 after 17 overs
Mustafizur's here. Baby and Jadhav will be looking to camp on the backfoot, expecting plenty of off-cutters and slower ones. An almost waist-high full toss has been sliced over the point region for a boundary -- a rare loose ball from Fizzy. Still a good over, considering the situation where RR is over 14. Ten runs off this over. The two need to go big here.
Henriques' last coming up. Baby's trying to keep the scoreboard ticking -- a ramp shot and a couple of swings have yielded nine runs in this over - that's four less than what they would've liked to get, given that the RR is 13.2. RCB need to score 53 in their last four overs. And they have two Mustafizur over to contend with.
After 15 overs, RCB 130/4
Sran to bowl his last over. And the over starts with another boundary -- a poor one from Sran, strays on the leg side and AB imparts some direction to it to get an easy four. AB's nearing his fifty here. OUT! de Villiers (47 off 32 balls) couldn't get that off the middle but gets a top edge and lobs a catch to the long on fielder. A big, big moment in the match, here. Nehra ji who dropped him on 3 will be mighty relieved.
AB's on the charge. Here comes the big over RCB were looking for -- 6,6,2,1,0,4. Remember AB was dropped when on 3 and 13? This 19-run over has take RCB to 122/3 after 14 overs.
ABD is about to turn into Hulk. Stay tuned... :) >#RCBvSRH
— Abdul Qadir (@aklashkarwala) >April 30, 2016
RCB 103/3 after 13 overs
Mustafizur's three overs remain the key and into this second now. Only three runs have come in the frst three balls. And Sachin Baby's hit a monster six off the fourth ball. They've managed to get 11 off Fizz's second over. Run rate's climbed up to 13 now.
Henriques continues. Watson's run out here trying to convert a single into a double. He's just millimeters short of the crease, a close call that. Sachin Baby's here, with run rate slowly creeping over 12. RCB need 103 off 48 balls.
RCB 89/2 after 11 overs
Sran's into his third. AB gets another reprieve here -- Hooda fails to cling on to a difficult one. And a boundary after that -- that's adding insult to injury. Sran must be gutted with that. Six off this and SRH still have this match in their grasp. The visitors need need 106 runs from 54 balls.
Henriques to bowl. Rahul brings up his second successive fifty. Oh no! The celebration is cut short -- he's caught behind, trying to guide one in the thirdman region. An important moment in the match in this over -- that of Rahul's wicket. RCB 83/2 after 10.
Runs are beginning to flow for RCB - 77/1 after nine overs
Sran's greeted with a 72-m six in his second over - Rahul pulls that with considerable ease. They're playing to plan too, taking singles and doubles when the opportunity presents itself. And when a loose ball is presented, it's dispatched with ease - like how Rahul's done here. Rahul and de Villiers help themselves to a boundary. Rahul looks in super touch here, his innings' only been about timing and placement.
RCB: 52/1 after seven overs
Sran's here. What a costly miss by Nehra -- drops a catch and that of AB! Mark this event right here, AB's dropped at 5. Every run off his bat from now on will hurt SRH. Seven came off Sran's first.
A sub-plot in the making?
Dropped!! Oh no it's Nehra ji. Seems like he wants to get AB out himself. >#RCBvSRH
— Pankil shah (@pankil298) >April 30, 2016
At the end of powerplay overs, RCB 45/1
Mustafizur is introduced here. And, the impact's already there! What a wicket for SRH, Kohli (14 off 17 balls) makes room but smashes it straight to Ashish Reddy at point. One big fish gone, AB's the next man in. Some contest here, AB vs. Mustafizur. Warner will be so glad that the Bangaldeshi bowler is on his side -- he's given away only three!
Nehra makes a strong return -- gives away only 5 in this.
SRH: 37/0 after four overs
Bhuvi will hope to bowl a better over this time. He's bowling some tight line and lengths here -- stump-to-stump and full. Rahul tries to disturn his line by moving down the wicket and lofting it over covers -- a well planned four for the Karnataka batsman. No risk and 8 runs -- just what RCB want.
Kolhi's had enough of this. He steps down and smashes Nehra through the covers and with that Kohli crosses 1000 runs in T20s this year. Seven came off this one. Scoreboard moves to 29/0.
Virat took a present from nehra when he was a child and now, he slaps the ball for a four showing no respect to the senior. LOL :) >#RCBvSRH .
— Harsha Deep (@gharshadeep) >April 30, 2016
RCB off to a superb start here, race to 22/0 after two overs
Bhuvneshwar Kumar will share the new ball. Rahul's taking the lead here, another boundary, but this time through the covers. The ball's raced away to the ropes -- sheer timing, this. Another one, but more placement than timing on this.
RCB: 10/0 after first over
Nehra's looking for some swing and pitching it up to the batsmen. But one's a bit too much -- Rahul drives that past the stumps for a four. Both batsmen are nicely middling the ball, here. RCB's managed to get off to a steady start -- 10 runs have come off this.
K.L. Rahul and Virat Kolhi make their way to the centre.
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Watson to bowl the last over of the innings. Run out! Hooda's gone while trying to sneak a second run -- Richardson misfields at thirdman but manages to recover quickly and 'keeper Rahul does the rest. Local boy Ashish Reddy's the next man in. Watson's bowling to his field here, the ball's going to the fielders at the moment -- no boundaries yet. And, Henriques smashes the last one. one run off the last ball. So no 200 here.
SRH: 188/4, with one to go
The run rate's inching towards 10 here. Shamsi to bowl his last. Henriques spoils his figures with a six and four off the last two balls of the over. A four-run over becomes a 14-run over. Clean, pure striking, this, from the Australian. SRH will be disappointed if they don't reach 200 from here.
SRH 174/4, with two overs to go
Richardson, who's been very expensive, will bowl the 17th. Wickets are tumbling here, RCB's managed to get Ojha's wicket on the back of two strikes. Woah! Henriques waited on that and hits a flat six over midwicket. He's continuing to bleed runs here. And it continues, a 96-m six now. 13 runs off this.
Watto's back and gets the star NZ batsman but not before Williamson's compiled a neat 37-ball 50. A superb over from Watson here, potentially match-changing, with only 8 runs and the important wicket of Williamson coming off it. Naman Ojha's the next man in.
SRH: 153/2 after 16 overs
We have an interesting passage of play ahead of us -- how many can SRH manage in 30 balls?
This is about to happen. Warner wanted to smash every ball to the moon -- has was successful twice, but manages to mistime one and give an easy catch to AB at long on. A superb 92-run innings from Warner comes to an end. Henriques' here. 12 runs and a wicket came off this.
SRH 141/1 after 15 overs
Warner takes the Orange Cap from Kohli and the 100-run partnership is also up. Two sixes and a four -- some through brute force, some with clinical precision. This over looks like a match-changing one -- 19 runs came off this. They're going at 9.5 now.
Not like the original, but effective
Woah!! >@davidwarner31 pulls off a helicopter shot! Awesome! >#RCBvSRH>@IPL>#IPL2016
— Kshitij Doval (@Doval31) >April 30, 2016
Rasool's firing them in, but more pace = more runs. Warner's pulled a short one through the midwicket and Warner smashes the last ball over midwicket - he rocks back and flat-bats it. The tempo's increasing here. SRH 122/1 after 14 overs
Seven more to go, SRH 109/1
They're targeting Aarron here. Another 11-run over. A couple of fours -- one was a lucky one though -- and few singles came off this over. The run rate's climbing slowly -- Kohli needs to break this partnership soon before it manages to become even bigger.
SRH get a move on, 98/1 after 12 overs
Kohli's go to man Shane Watson's introduced into the attack. A couple of terrific blows -- one from Warner who clears his front leg and smashes in in the vacant midwicket region and the other from Williamson who's dispactched an incoming Watson delivery over midwicket.
Just when the two were looking to be aggressive, Shamsi bowled a terrific over -- only 5 off this. Shamsi's been given a lot of respect by these two. Scorecard reads 87/1 after 11 overs
At the halfway mark, SRH 82/1. 180 on the cards?
Rasool to continue. Warner slaps a wide one past the diving cover fielder, and in the process notches up another half century. After 10 overs, SRH have managed 82/1 -- a solid launchpad, this.
SRH 74/1 after nine overs
Aarron's bowling with some pace -- he's hitting high 140s here. And that's exactly what the two want. Two fours, a wide and two runs come in this over. Warner, Williamson step on the gas, and the run rate's over 8 again.
SRH 63/1 after eight overs
Rasool will bowl his second. No major hitting in this one, runs coming only in singles and doubles. Interestingly, Williamson's played only 7 balls! Six off this and the run rate's dipped a bit -- 7.87 now.
SRH 57/1 after seven overs
Chinaman Tabraiz Shamsi will look to stop the run flow. He's providing Warner plenty of width to manipulate the field and Warner's happy with it. A back cut for a boundary and a couple of singles. Eight runs have come off Shamsi's first.
A question for Kohli:
Why Sachin Baby ? Why experiment with a settle batting lineup ? Persist in you best bowlers. >#RCBvSRH>#IPL2016
— Amitabh Mallick (@Amitabh57051) >April 30, 2016
After 6 overs, SRH: 49/1
Harshal Vikram Patel is on. Ouch! A four off a no ball and the free-hit ball goes for half-a-dozen. Warner clears his front foot and deposits that in the stands. Warner's liking Patel pace, tries hard to cash in on the last powerplay over -- manages to get 16 runs, the biggest over so far. At the end of powerplays SRH is going at 8.16 per over.
More pace -- Varun Aaron into the attack.
Aaron continues the good work done by the others, gives away only 5 runs in that over. You sense something's about to happen here. After five overs, SRH: 33/1
After four overs, SRH: 28/1
Warner's looking to attack Richardson here, first one is pulled and the second is flat-batted over mid-on. Dhawan's (11 off 11 balls)adventure is cut short, he given an easy catch to the bowler, who pouches that on his follow through. And that brings Kane Williamson to the crease. It's Kane vs. Kane in the middle.
SRH: 21/0 after three overs
Parvez Razool's into the attack -- that's interesting, considering the amount of swing on offer for the pacers. Dhawan, sensing an oppurtunity to get some easy runs in the poweplay overs, steps down and lofts it over Rasool's head. Dhawan tries hard, but Rasool holds his own. Seven off this.
SRH: 14/0 after two overs
Another Australian — Shane Watson — is into the attack. Watto's getting some swing in to the left-handers here, making it difficult for the two to middle the balls. And as I type that, Dhawan punches one straight back, for a boundary. Eight came off the second over.
Six runs off the first over
Kane Richardson will bowl the first over. The ball's flying off Warner's big bat here - but finds the fielders, so damage done. That's tidy start by the South Australian.
There's confirmation from the RCB camp: Gayle will not play today.
Virat Kohli wins the toss and RCB will bowl first. They've made four changes to their team. David Warner says he batted first if he had won the toss. And, this toss outcome means RCB will bowl first for the first time this season.
The rain's stopped in Hyderabad. We should have the toss anytime now.
And it looks like Chris Gayle will be playing today, but we have to wait for the rain to subside first before we get to see the Gaylestorm.
Earlier in the day, Delhi Daredevils put in a superb performance to beat Kolkata Knight Riders by 27 runs. They've climbed to the second spot in the points table. In case you missed it, read our >over-by-over coverage of the match .
Some bad news coming in: it's raining in Hyderabad.
Going live >#RCBvSRH .... sandwiched between >@imVkohli and >#SRH ... bit drenched .. Raingod save the match.. >pic.twitter.com/cPHs2RAFe8
— ARUNANSHU MALLICK (@arunanshu_m) >April 30, 2016
Read our Correspondent Joseph Antony 's match preview:
RCB keen to climb, but faces a confident bowling unit
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), placed seventh in the points table, will be keen to climb upwards, starting with its match against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium. >Continue reading
