The Sunrisers Hyderabad pulled off yet another upset in the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League defeating the third-placed Royal Challengers Bangalore by 4 runs in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, 6 October.
Needing 142 runs from 20 overs, RCB were cruising at a point with 92-3 in 14 overs. Having lost Virat Kohli, Dan Christian and KS Bharat early in the game, it was Glenn Maxwell who took the onus on himself and disturbed the rhythm of the SRH bowlers. He took them on and just when he looked to be utterly dominant beside a struggling Devdutt Padikkal, he ended up being a victim of a huge mix up in the middle.
Looking to get off to the other end against Rashid Khan, Padikkal put Maxwell in danger against Kane Williamson at cover. The SRH captain picked up the ball and threw it in bullet speed to uproot the stumps and sent Maxwell packing at 40 off 25 balls.
From there, the chase looked a little tricky, but an equation of 18 from the last two overs with Shabaz Ahmed batting at 10 off 5 and AB de Villiers at 12 off 8 balls looked rather easy.
However, in an incredible turn of events, Jason Holder bowled a breathtaking penultimate over scalping the wicket of Shabaz Ahmed and not giving a single boundary away against George Garton and AB de Villiers.
With 13 to defend in the final one, Sunrisers’ ace bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar, almost lost the plot but somehow managed to contain de Villiers from hitting the big shots.
This loss would mean that RCB will not be able to make it to the top two positions of the table anymore and would be forced to play the Eliminator the second time in two seasons.
Last year, in the Eliminator, they were beaten by none other than the Sunrisers Hyderabad who stole the show and won the fixture by 6 wickets to advance to the next stage.
Earlier in the first innings, forced to put into bat, Sunrisers Hyderabad tried to shake things up pairing Abhishek Sharma and Jason Roy. The move brought intent in the opening partnership with Sharma trying to tee off early in the innings. However, the List A record holder for the second fastest century by an Indian player departed in the penultimate ball of the second over having hit a six and a four in his 10 ball stay.
The entry of Kane Williamson in number three made sure that SRH don’t lose further wickets and the Kiwi captain along with Roy added 70 runs in the next 9 overs. However, SRH failed to build on momentum and Williamson’s wicket opened the floodgates in the second half of the innings. From 100-2, SRH were squeezed to 141-7 at the end of the 20 overs.
Harshal Patel was once again the pick of the bowlers, bowling exceptionally well at the death, picking up three wickets, including the one of Kane Williamson for just 33 runs.
Barring Patel, Australian Dan Christian played a crucial part in restricting SRH from putting more on board, removing Jason Roy with a fantastic caught and bowled effort, just when he was looking to accelerate.
None of that would work out at the end as a collective failure of the batting unit would end RCB’s hopes of winning this game by 4 runs.
Captains comments
Speaking at the post match presentation, RCB captain Virat Kohli said that the Maxwell dismissal was a key moment in the match. He praised the Hyderabad based franchise for holding their nerves and taking the game deep.
Kohli also spoke highly of the SRH's latest bowling sensation Umran Malik and stated that we (India) need to take care of our (India's) fast bowling stocks. "Whenever you see talent like this, you need to nurture them."
He said that he is gutted to lose but this game is only a hiccup in RCB's journey and they would like to carry on with the momentum they had earlier.
Winning captain Kane Williamson spoke very highly about the unit at the post match presentation. When asked by presenter Alan Wilkins that where did they manage to ignite the fire, Williamson said that the heart was always there. "The heart was there. It was always there. The surfaces here are tough to play. The conditions are challenging and to see the fight and the heart in the second half was great to see."
He spoke about Umran Malik as well and stated that the Jammu & Kashmir lad was a special find for the team, "Umran certainly is special. He is certainly special. We have seen him in the nets for a couple of seasons. Been a really valuable addition to the side."
He concluded by saying that it was nice to win the fixtures despite getting out of contention and that these sorts of situations bring the best out of the youngsters in any camp.
"It's been a challenging season and it's been some great opportunities for some youngsters. We've had a lot of last-over finishes and being on the right side of those is clearly helpful. But one thing tonight is it was satisfying for the group."
Experts Take
The experts had a lot to note down in this busy game and were of the shared point of view that it was Devdutt Padikkal’s stuttering innings that killed the mojo of the RCB chase.
He wasn’t the only one at fault though, as AB de Villiers’ lack of returns this season is becoming a worrying point for the RCB.
De Villiers, needing 6 from the last two balls, failed to hit out a rank full toss from Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the 5th delivery after dispatching the slot ball for a huge six in the delivery before.
While RCB did bowl well at the back end of the innings, their exploits in the middle overs should alarm the think tank. UK based analytics company Cricviz pointed out that Mohammad Siraj’s diminishing returns in the T20 format is worrying and RCB have to find a way for their strike bowler to be among wickets.
Thankfully it was the joint venture of Dan Christian and Harshal Patel that brought RCB back in the game, after the former took a stupendous catch of Jason Roy off his own bowling.
Harshal Patel once again came in handy with his cutters and picked up two late wickets to shut the lid on the SRH firepower.
Patel is currently the purple cap holder in the current season and has a 7-wicket difference between him and second-placed Avesh Khan.
While he has been a touch expensive with an economy of 8.4, he has a tremendous strike rate of just 10 in this season.
Some have even argued that, if the pitches do remain the same for the T20 World Cup, Patel could be added into the squad to maximise India’s bowling potential.
Kane Williamson once again played a captain's knock to help stabilise the SRH batting order, but could not bat through the 20 overs as he would have liked. However, commentator Harsha Bhogle was in aw of this man's prowess and it only built further after Williamson effected the Maxwell run out in the second innings of the game.
To wrap it up, the experts once again took notice of Umran Malik's ability on the night as the pacer broke the 150kmph barrier once again to deliver a 153ks corker. This ball, now has become the fastest delivery bowled in this season IPL ahead of the likes of the South African duo Anrich Nortje and Kagiso Rabada