Kohli gets back-to-back first-ball ducks as Jansen, Natarajan dazzle
For Royal Challengers Bangalore, the Brabourne stadium in Mumbai turned into a haunted house on Saturday as they played out a horror show they won’t forget in a hurry.
AS IT HAPPENED
Against Sunrisers Hyderabad’s fiery bowling attack, Faf du Plessis’ men came up woefully short in shot selection and focus and crumbled to 68 in 16.1 overs, the sixth lowest total in the IPL.
Soon, Sunrisers batters rubbed salt into RCB’s wounds and called it an early night. Powered by Abhishek Sharma’s 28-ball 47 (8×4; 1×6), the team cruised to 72/1 in eight overs for a convincing nine-wicket victory.
Invited to bat by Kane Williamson, the RCB wheels came off in the second over bowled by South Africa’s young pacer Marco Jansen (3/25). The 21-year-old struck off the second ball when Du Plessis was beaten, losing his off stump to the fullish delivery. Virat Kohli’s woeful form continued. For the second time this season, the former skipper had to endure a first ball dismissal as he offered a thick edge to Aiden Markram at second slip.
Spectators watched in disbelief as a disappointed Kohli made his way back to the dugout with his team at 5/2. RCB’s nightmare was far from over, as Jansen finished the second over with the wicket of opener Anuj Rawat. Much like Kohli, Rawat too chose to play with hard hands and offered a low catch to Markram in the slips.
The Sunrisers bowlers operated on a different plane and Williamson did well to mix pace and spin to trouble the RCB batters. They tightened the screws by fusing economy with wicket-taking deliveries. The pace bowlers, watched by a visibly pleased bowling coach Dale Steyn, were on top of their game.
If Umran Malik (1/13), whose deliveries touched 145 kmph, was unplayable, T Natarajan (3/10) with his yorkers and length balls ensured a hellish ride for RCB. Add to it the accuracy with which Jansen bowled, the batsmen were left scurrying for cover. J Suchith (2/12), the lone spinner, delivered on expected lines.
An emphatic win for #SRH as they beat #RCB by 9 wickets 👏🔥Splendid performance from Kane & Co. This is one happy… https://t.co/aoqr3ulLRr— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) 1650731889000
Glenn Maxwell (12) was tasked with the job of reviving the innings, but Natarajan, a natural exponent of seam bowling, had other plans. A full delivery from the pacer was chipped by Maxwell and Williamson took a diving catch at mid-off, which was reviewed but went in favour of SRH.
At 20/4 in the fifth over RCB were in deep trouble. With the exit of Suyash Prabhuddesai, the highest scorer for RCB with 15, in the ninth over, the team sank further and its hopes rested in their middle-order stars Shahbaz Ahmed (7) and Dinesh Karthik (0).
Batting royalty 👑#KaneWilliamson @BrianLara @imVkohli #RCBvSRH #OrangeArmy #ReadyToRise #TATAIPL https://t.co/v3qsdZ8oSe— SunRisers Hyderabad (@SunRisers) 1650740231000
But Suchith, who got Pradhuddesai’s wicket, accounted for Karthik, when the latter attempted to sweep a delivery going down the leg-side and offered an edge to wicketkeeper Nicholas Pooran. RCB let out a sigh of relief with a wide being called but Karthik walked back following a successful appeal from SRH.
Shahbaz was next to join the parade and it didn’t take long for the Sunrisers’ bowlers to clean up the tail.
https://t.co/FAoZa4JYEg— SunRisers Hyderabad (@SunRisers) 1650734095000