Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli batted their hearts out to take Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) to a narrow six-wicket win with one ball to spare against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the rain-shortened Match 52 of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2015 at Hyderabad on Friday. Persistent rain caused a late start, as the match was reduced to 11 overs a side. Further rain meant that RCB had to chase 81 in six overs according to the Duckworth/Lewis method after SRH scored 135 for three. With this win, RCB jump to the second spot on the points table, while SRH drop to fourth. Scorecard: Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Royal Challengers Bangalore, IPL 2015
Dale Steyn opened bowling for SRH, but was met with complete contempt by both Gayle and Kohli. The first ball was hit to the square leg boundary, the second was pulled over the ropes. Kohli then thrashed one over midwicket to end with 17 runs off the first over. Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled a much better second over; unfortunately, it was more expensive than Steyn’s! Updates: Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Royal Challengers Bangalore IPL 2015 Match 52
Gayle edged a couple of boundaries, but also found the middle of the bat to hit two sixes. He ended up taking 24 off a decent over from Bhuvneshwar. Gayle was finally dismissed by Moises Henriques for a slam-bang 35 off 10 balls with four fours and three sixes. SRH would have been thrilled with his wicket, but it also brought out AB de Villiers. However, their apprehension soon turned to absolute delight, as de Villiers hit the first ball he faced to Steyn at long on. Henriques continued his phenomenal night with a two-wicket over that cost just three runs. IPL 2015 Highest run-scorer: List of best batsmen in IPL 8
Mandeep Singh was the new man in for RCB. Karn Sharma bowled the fourth over. It was shaping up to be another economical one, the second one on the trot for SRH, but Karn dropped a Kohli top-edge, and was hit by the batsman for a six off the final ball to end conceding 14 off the over. IPL 2015 Highest wicket-taker: List of best bowlers in IPL 8
Praveen Kumar bowled the penultimate over, and struck with his first ball as Mandeep holed out to Eoin Morgan at deep midwicket. That brought in Dinesh Karthik, though Kohli was on strike. He played a dot ball before running a quick two and then hitting a six over midwicket. He took another single, before Karthik got a single to end with, as RCB needed 13 to win off the final over. IPL 2015 Most 6s and 4s: List of most dangerous batsmen in IPL 8
Karthik took a single off the first ball, but wanted the second. Kohli turned him down. Kohli hit the second ball back down the ground, but it hit Karthik, who was then run out as the bowler collected the ball. That meant that RCB needed 12 to win off four balls. Bhuvneshwar bowled a pin-point yorker, but the pure class of Kohli came through, as he played a square drive through point to pick up an invaluable boundary. He followed it up with a glorious shot to the third man boundary. RCB needed four runs off two balls. Kohli then hit one straight down the ground. It was caught by David Warner, who stepped on the boundary in celebration, as RCB won by six wickets with a ball to spare. Kohli remained uneaten on 44 off merely 19 deliveries. IPL 2015 Leading fielders: List of Best fielders in IPL 8
Earlier, David Warner and Moises Henriques used their long handles to good effect to boost SRH to a terrific 135 for three. Henriques was the aggressor, hammering a lacklustre RCB bowling to all ends of the large Hyderabad ground. SRH did not get off to the best of starts, with Shikhar Dhawan mis-hitting a short ball from David Wiese straight to Ashok Dinda at mid on. However, his dismissal proved to be a blessing in disguise, as Henriques came out in murderous mood.
Henriques benefited from two dropped chances, one easier than the other. First, he hit Harshal Patel down Mandeep Singh’s throat only to see an easy chance grassed. Later, he sliced one from Mitchell Starc into the hands of Sarfaraz Khan at point, but the 17-year old failed to latch on to a simple catch. IPL 2015 schedule: IPL 8 match time table with venue details
At the other end, Warner took a back seat to Henriques’ blitz, but he was far from overshadowed. A standout shot was a reverse slog against Yuzvendra Chahal which went for the 600th six of IPL 2015. He followed it up with an off drive, once again hit right-handed, off the next ball. IPL 2015 Points Table & Team Standings
Henriques went on to score his fifty off 20 balls, missing out on the joint fastest fifty of the tournament by one ball. Warner’s half-century took 10 balls more, but it was no less destructive for SRH. Wiese took the second wicket as well, getting Henriques to snick one behind to Dinesh Karthik. Indian Premier League (IPL) 2015: Complete coverage
Brief scores:
Sunrisers Hyderabad 135 for 3 in 11 overs (David Warner 52*, Moises Henriques 57; David Wiese 2 for 20) lost to Royal Challengers Bangalore 83 for 4 in 5.5 overs (Chris Gayle 35, Virat Kohli 44*; Moises Henriques 2 for 3) by 6 wickets.
Man of the Match: Virat Kohli
(Shiamak Unwalla, a reporter with CricketCountry, is a self-confessed Sci-Fi geek and Cricket fanatic. His Twitter handle is @ShiamakUnwalla)
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