South African captain AB de Villiers hit a sensational 41-ball 89 to lift Royal Challengers Bangalore to a win over Sunrisers Hyderabad here on Sunday during an IPl league match.
Chasing 156, set up by Hyderabad, for RCB it was all but over when AB came in to bat at 38 for 3 in 6.4 overs, with Chris Gayle and captain Virat Kohli already in the hut. AB took charge then and saw his team through with a ball to spare.Earlier, Warner’s fighting knock of 61 off 49 balls helped Hyderabad post a challenging 155 for six.Warner hit four boundaries and three sixes as he steadied Hyderabad innings, along with captain Shikhar Dhawan (37 off 36 balls) with a 62-run partnership for third wicket at the Chinnaswamy stadium.
Put into bat, Hyderabad lost their in-form opener Aaron Finch (13) and lokesh Rahul (6) early as they were reduced to 29 for two in four overs. Mitchel Starc and Ashoke Dinda (1/39) accounted for both the batsmen.Australian pacer Starc (2/21) had Finch caught behind by Parthiv Patel and then Dinda sent back local lad Rahul as he fished at an out-going bowl to Chris Gayle at first slip.Warner, who survived a scare while on six when he played an uppish shot, and Dhawan provided stability for the visitors by adding 62 runs for third wicket in the next nine overs.
Both played some effective shots during their partnership and prominent among those were the boundaries scored off Varun Aaron (2/33) and Harshel Patel (1/29).A moment of indiscretion cost Dhawan his wicket as he pulled one off Aaron straight into the hands of A B de Villiers who was standing at deep mid-wicket after making 37 off 36 balls with four hits to the fence.But Warner continued to fight as he smashed Yuzvendra Chahal for a six over the bowler’s head and followed it up by accumulating seven more runs. He was ultimately castled by Starc in the last over of the innings.
Darren Sammy then smashed a flat over long-off for a six to prop up Hyderabad’s innings but was holed out by Starc off Harshal Patel in deep mid-wicket for eight in as many balls in 16th over.
Brief ScoresSunrisers Hyderabad: 55 for 6 in 20 overs (David Warner 61, Shikhar Dhawan 37; Mitchell Starc 2/21, Varun Aaron 2/33) lost to Royal Challengers Bangalore: 158 for 6 in 19.5 overs (A B de Villiers 89 not out; Kran Sharma 3/17) by four wickets.