Synopsis: RCB tweakers spun their web around power-packed SRH batting line-up after half-centuries by Rajat Patidar and Virat Kohli took them to a 200-plus total.
Chasing 207, the Sunrisers Hyderabad SRH batting line-up combusted collectively. Ultra-attacking batting can help teams make sky-high scores, but when it doesn’t go right, nights like this happen. On a surface where anything with pace taken off either by pacers or spinners was effective, the hosts read the pitch wrong.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru spinners made full use of the pitch in the second innings. Off-spinner Will Jacks scalped Travis Head, the scourge of bowlers in the tournament, in the first over. Though Abhishek Sharma continued his usual boundary hunt, he too fell soon after.
The turning point in the chase came in the fifth over itself when the spine of the SRH batting, Aiden Markram and Heinrich Klaasen, were removed by Impact substitute Swapnil Singh with his left-arm orthodox spin. With four wickets down inside the Powerplay, it was a long way back for the home team.
@RCBTweets end #SRH‘s winning streak in Hyderabad 😄
And with that, they have settled their score for the season ❤️
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/2EpEyR3PF2#TATAIPL | #SRHvRCB pic.twitter.com/PGSNN3G3hi
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 25, 2024
After the initial damage from the finger spinners, leggie Karn Sharma used his guile and experience to remove Nitish Kumar Reddy and Abdul Samad. SRH skipper Pat Cummins, who has the second-fastest 50 in IPL history,threatened to play a blazing cameo but got a taste of his own medicine from Australia teammate Cameron Green, who bounced him out to kill any slim hope the home crowd was holding on to despite the already dire situation.
Patidar packs a punch, while Kohli struggles
The 11th over bowled by Mayank Markende witnessed a modern range-hitting masterclass from Rajat Patidar. With hardly any foot-movement or advances down the wicket, the way the 30-year-old accessed different areas of the ground with brute strength irrespective of the length the leg-spinner offered indicated how lopsided the bat vs ball contest has become in this format.
Patidar reached his half-century in 19 balls, without facing a dot ball. He kept whacking the SRH bowlers all over the park and injected momentum into the RCB innings which was fizzling out after the turbocharged start provided by Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli in the Powerplay. The run rate was around 10 but Patidar looked to take it higher, but perished going for another big hit.
While all this was unfolding, the other end portrayed a different picture altogether. It is not very often a high-profile Indian player reaches his half-century with subdued applause from the crowd. However, the way Kohli’s innings went after the Powerplay has been an oft-repeated tale in the tournament thus far.
Against Rajasthan Royals and Punjab Kings earlier in the season, the way he looked to build partnerships in the middle overs while wickets were falling at the other end was understandable. However, with no such problems on Thursday, against a side that has made a habit of breaking the highest T20 scores every other game this season, did Kohli support Patidar by holding his end up or hamper RCB’s prospects of getting to 220, which seems like a modern par score for teams on flat decks? It is something to ponder upon and a debate which will rumble on as the IPL gets to its business end and the T20 World Cup draws closer.
However, Camron Green did deliver a cameo which at the halfway point looked like giving RCB only a fighting chance. As it turned out, it ended up more than enough to help them bag their second win of the 2024 campaign.
Unadkat turns the tide
It should not be a surprise anymore halfway into the season how efficiently SRH has been using slower bumpers once the ball is a bit old to choke sides between the 10th and 15th overs. They have had to be effective in this period to pull games back as the first 10 overs continue to be a concern for them (94 runs in the first half of the RCB innings).
Skipper Cummins threw the ball to his reliable weapon and Unadkat did the business again. Despite batsmen having been telegrammed about what is coming at them with the fields set and him using the same trick in prior games, they were still deceived by the left-armer on Thursday. While Kohli’s dismissal might be partly his own doing because of his approach in the middle overs and digging himself into a hole, some credit has to go to Unadkat who scalped the India legend for the first time in his 100-match IPL career.
Whenever SRH needed a breakthrough, Unadkat answered the call and scalped three crucial wickets (Patidar, Mahipal Lomror and Kohli) on the night. However, his partner in crime in the slower-ball tactic Cummins struggled for a change. Right from his first over which started with a couple of crisp Kohli shots in the Powerplay, the Australian’s lines and lengths looked off which eventually let RCB off the hook once Unadkat was dealt with.
Brief scores: Royal Challengers Bengaluru 206/7 in 20 overs (Kohli 51, Patidar 50, Green 37; Unadkat 3/30) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad 171/8 in 20 overs (Shahbaz Ahmed 40 not out, Abhishek Sharma 31, Cummins 31; Green 2/12, Karn Sharma 2/29) by 35 runs
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