As the playoffs edge ever closer, RCB threw away their chance of making it into the top two places as they failed to chase down a target of 142 against SRH.
Sunrisers Hyderabad held their nerve in an intense encounter as Roy and Williamson played crucial knocks to take the side to a competitive 141/7, while good bowling in the middle and death overs, coupled with Kane Williamson’s spectacular run out of the in-form Maxwell ensured that SRH came out on top.
RCB skipper Virat Kohli called correctly at the toss and decided to put the Sunrisers into bat. The Sunrisers got off to a decent start, despite losing the wicket of Abhishek Sharma, who was promoted to the opening slot, in the second over to pacer George Garton.
Jason Roy and captain Williamson then steadied the ship, putting on 70 runs for the second wicket in 58 balls, before losing the New Zealand international to the purple cap-holder Harshal Patel, leaving the Sunrisers at 91/2 after the 12 over mark.
Talented youngster Priyam Garg and Roy stitched somewhat of a partnership before the fall of Garg triggered a collapse of sorts in the opposition’s batting order, as SRH lost four wickets in the space of three overs, thanks to a good bowling effort by the likes of Chahal and Dan Christian.
Christian also created the most memorable moment of the innings as he took a spectacular catch off his own bowling to dismiss the dangerous Roy.
Jason Holder and Rashid Khan struck a few boundaries as SRH made it past the 140-mark, with Harshal Patel giving away just five runs in a brilliant final over, which also saw Holder getting dismissed off the last ball.
Given the challenging batting track, it was always going to be tough for the side batting second. But losing captain and chase-master Kohli in the first over to veteran pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar made things even more difficult for the Bangalore side.
Christian once again played at No.3, but couldn’t do too much as both he and KS Bharath were dismissed cheaply, leaving RCB in a spot of bother at 38/3 at the end of 7 overs.
Opener Padikkal and all-rounder Glenn Maxwell attempted to bring the innings back under control, with the latter being the aggressor. The Big Show was by far the most comfortable batsman for either side, taking the attack to the Sunrisers bowling, taking RCB to 92/3 after 14 overs, scoring a wonderful 40 off just 25 deliveries. He played brilliantly, before being run out by Williamson in what was a fantastic effort by the Kiwi superstar.
This brought in the ever-dependable Mr.360, AB de Villiers to the crease. Meanwhile, Padikkal was struggling with his strike rate, which was hovering at around 80 for the entirety of his innings. Eventually, the pressure got to him, as he holed out to deep mid-wicket off Rashid Khan, ending a forgettable innings of 41 in 52 balls, leaving RCB needing 33 in 19 deliveries.
It was an all too familiar situation for RCB as they banked all their hopes on de Villiers to get them over the line. But the SRH bowlers did a magnificent job of keeping the South African at the non-strikers’ end for the bulk of his time in the middle.
The death bowlers, Kaul, Holder, and Bhuvneshwar did a fantastic job of choking the batsmen towards the end, with Holder also getting rid of Shahbaz, who had struck a couple of boundaries.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar took up the responsibility of bowling the final over with 13 runs to defend. George Garton faced 2 crucial deliveries, failing to get either one away to the fence, but managed to get de Villiers on strike for the last four. A dot ball followed by a beautiful six made for a nail-biting finish.
With six needed off the last two deliveries, de Villiers could not conjure up a boundary off either ball, leaving RCB 4 runs short in the end. More importantly, this meant that it is now almost impossible for the Royal Challegners to finish in the top two positions.
Brief scores
Sunrisers Hyderabad- 141/7 in 20 overs (Roy 44; Williamson 31; H Patel 3/33; Christian 2/14)
Royal Challengers Bangalore- 137/6 in 20 overs (D Padikkal 41; Maxwell 40; Malik 1/21; Kaul 1/24)
Sunrisers Hyderabad win by 4 runs
