SRH outclass RCB but fail to clinch top-two spot
Sunrisers Hyderabad maintained their now familiar hell-for-leather template, but even a thumping 55-run victory couldn’t prevent Royal Challengers Bengaluru from topping the points table at the end of their IPL league stage engagement here on Friday.
Abhishek Sharma’s bat-swing, Ishan Kishan’s daredevilry and Heinrich Klaasen’s brute muscularity took SRH to a meaty total of 255 for 4.
For RCB, the primary target was to score 166 to finish in top two and ensure two shots at qualifying for the IPL final and they did that with ease despite losing the contest by a big margin. They finished on 200 for 4.
RCB (NRR +0.783), thus, topped the group league phase with Gujarat Titans (NRR +0.695) and SRH (NRR +0.524) finishing second and third, respectively, despite all three teams getting 18 points apiece.
The chase was always out of question, even as Venkatesh Iyer (44 off 19 balls) provided a solid start. Virat Kohli (15 off 11 balls) and Devdutt Padikkal (21 off 14 balls) didn’t get too many.
Once RCB understood that they can’t win the match, veterans Rajat Patidar (56 off 39 balls) and Krunal Pandya (41 not out off 31 balls) concentrated on the ‘Magic Figure’ of 166 with a 84-run stand.
Once Patidar flayed Pat Cummins over deep point for a six, RCB ensured a top-two finish. He was out at the team score of 178, which was required to finish on top of the table.
Among SRH bowlers, Eshan Malinga (2/33 in 4 overs) was once again brilliant with his lengths, while Bihar youngster Sakib Hussain (1/31) also didn’t let the batters get away during middle overs.
Earlier, when SRH batted, Abhishek (56 off 22 balls) scored another 20-ball half-century and nullified Bhuvneshwar Kumar in his first spell.
Vice-captain Kishan found the gaps while displaying both precision and cheekiness to pummel his way to 79 off just 44 balls.
Klaasen (51 off 24 balls), probably the most consistent batter across teams below No. 3, literally toyed with a world-class operator like Josh Hazlewood, taking as many as 27 runs off his third over and the team’s 13th, as the Orange Army ensured that they would cross the 250-run mark on a batting featherbed.
The mayhem was started by Abhishek when he elegantly lofted a Bhuvneshwar delivery over wide of long-off to get his first six. Bhuvneshwar, who found a second wind in this IPL, wasn’t allowed to settle down as he flicked him twice — once over square-leg and then over deep mid-wicket off back-to-back deliveries.
Romario Shepherd’s friendly, occasional medium pace wasn’t supposed to trouble the world’s No. 1-ranked T20 batter, and it didn’t. He was lofted for a couple of straight sixes while Suyash Sharma’s delivery was also sent soaring into the orbit with minimal footwork.
While Kishan dropped anchor at one end while showing consistency that one expects from a talent like him, no words of praise would be enough for Klaasen, who doesn’t play international cricket anymore but remains the most sought-after gun for hire in the franchise universe.
In case of Kishan, RCB bowlers were guilty of bowling into his pads, allowing him to chance his arms freely, while Klaasen was neither disturbed by straight lines nor perturbed by the wide lines bowled at him.
The manner in which he hammered Hazlewood was good enough to dismantle the strategy of Rajat Patidar, while Nitish Reddy provided a final flourish with a 12-ball 29 not out. In all, SRH batters hit 20 boundaries and 16 sixes.
