Chasing a hefty 208-run target, Bangalore slumped to a desperately insufficient response of 172 all out in 19.4 overs – and a poor 35-run defeat. While the big-hitting Chris Gayle and sidekick Mandeep Singh’s alliance of 52 promised plenty through the opening throes of the pursuit, Hyderabad’s bowlers ultimately had the final say in front of an appreciative home crowd.
Each of the Royal Challengers’ top five batsmen reached 24 or more, but not one was able to move beyond Gayle’s 32. The Sunrisers unit’s ability to complement seam with spin was largely effective, despite the veteran Ashish Nehra’s costly three overs for 40 runs. Afghanistan slow bowler Rashid Khan did the burgeoning cricket nation proud by producing a telling haul of two for 36 in four overs.
All-rounder Stuart Binny was dropped twice for his 11 – both teams’ fielding, in general, was poor. Visiting captain Shane Watson, who scored an unremarkable 22, arguably arrived at the crease to late. He must bat higher than fifth position, come Saturday’s clash against the Delhi Daredevils at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.
Defending champions Sunrisers rode on a solid top order contribution to post a commanding 207/4. Opener Shikhar Dhawan (40) and one-down Moises Henriques (52) made up for the early loss of skipper David Warner (14) with a 74-run second-wicket stand after being sent in to bat.
Veteran batsman Yuvraj Singh (62), then joined the run feast and together with Australian all-rounder Henriques brought up another 58-run stand for the third wicket to take the hosts past the 150-run mark by the 15th over. Earlier, Rajasthan left-arm pacer Aniket Choudhary could not have asked for better IPL debut when he induced Warner with some swing to be comfortably caught by Mandeep Singh at backward point. The southpaw’s eight-ball knock was laced with two fours and a six.
Thereafter, it was Dhawan and Henriques all the way, taking SRH past 50 in just five overs, as the visitors found it tough to handle the left-right combination. Dhawan, who has been out of the India selectors’ radar for quite a part of the domestic season, unsettled the RCB bowlers with his 31-ball knock comprising five fours, including four from RCB skipper Shane Watson’s first over.
RCB had to wait until the 11th over to get their second wicket when Dhawan failed to clear the long-on boundary off Stuart Binny to be caught by Sachin Baby. Henriques, on the other hand, started with a flashy four and lost no time to settle down. The Aussie all-rounder helped SRH continue the momentum even after the fall of Dhawan and together with Yuvraj blasted the bowlers all over the park. Yuvraj, who was dropped on 26 off Choudhary, took full advantage of the life, rushing to his fastest IPL half century in just 23 balls. The 35-year-old’s 27-ball knock, comprising seven boundaries and three massive sixes, provided the much-needed impetus to the defending champions who left from where they left off in the last edition.
He, however, fell to England quick Tymal Mills after failing to connect a fast good length delivery in the penultimate over of the innings. Deepak Hooda and Ben Cutting, then provided the finishing touch with some lusty blows to take the home side past the 200-run mark.
Scoreboard
Sunrisers Hyderabad innings
DA Warner c Mandeep Singh b Choudhary 14
S Dhawan c Baby b Binny 40
MC Henriques c Baby b Chahal 52
Yuvraj Singh b Mills 62
DJ Hooda not out 16
BCJ Cutting not out 16
Extras (lb1, w5, nb1) 7
Total (for 4 wickets; 20 overs) 207
Fall of wickets: 1-19 (Warner, 1.4 ov), 2-93 (Dhawan, 10.3 ov), 3-151 (Henriques, 15.2 ov), 4-190 (Yuvraj Singh, 18.4 ov)
Bowling: T Mills 4-0-31-1, A Choudhary 4-0-55-1, Y Chahal 4-0-22-1, S Aravind 3-0-36-0, S Watson 3-0-41-0, T Head 1-0-11-0, S Binny 1-0-10-1
Royal Challengers Bangalore innings
C Gayle c Warner b Hooda 32
Mandeep b Rashid 24
T Head c Yuvraj b Rashid 30
K Jadhav run out (Cutting) 31
S Watson c Henriques b Nehra 22
S Baby c Henriques b Bipul 1
S Binny c Yuvraj b Kumar 11
S Aravind b Nehra 0
T Mills c Warner b Kumar 6
Y Chahal run out (sub Jordan) 3
A Choudhary not out 6
Extras (lb1, w4, nb1) 6
Total (all out in 19.4 overs) 172
Fall of wickets: 1-52 (Mandeep, 5.4 ov), 2-60 (Gayle, 6.3 ov), 3-116 (Jadhav, 11.4 ov), 4-126 (Head, 12.5 ov), 5-128 (Baby, 13.4 ov), 6-154 (Binny, 16.5 ov), 7-156 (Watson, 17.3 ov), 8-156 (Aravind, 17.4 ov), 9-164 (Mills, 18.5 ov)
Bowling: A Nehra 4-0-42-2, B Kumar 4-0-27-2, B Cutting 3.4-0-35-0, Rashid Khan 4-0-36-2, D Hooda 1-0-7-1, M Henriques 2-0-20-0, Bipul Sharma 1-0-4-1.
Man of the match: Yuvraj Singh