IPL 2018, RCB vs RCB: 4 unnoticed things from the game
A nail-biter at the Chinnaswamy, as RCB kept their hope alive of making it into the playoffs, defeating the table toppers SRH in a last over thriller.
Kane Williamson, having won the toss, decided to bowl first. Their last match’s hero against RCB, Bhuvneshwar Kumar was rested and young Basil Thampi was in for him. After Kohli and Parthiv Patel went cheaply, it was a grand display of T20 batting from AB De Villiers and Moeen Ali amassing 107 runs for the third wicket. SRH were back in the game as the magician Rashid Khan removed both the batsmen in an over. However, RCB had a great finish as Colin de Grandhomme and Sarfaraz take the hosts to 218.
The SRH started their chase briskly but soon lost both the openers. But captain Kane Williamson’s splendid knock of 81 of just 42 well supported by Manish Pandey’s 62 of 38 kept them in the hunt till the end. Yuzvendra Chahal was impressive with the ball conceding just 28 runs in his quota of 4 overs in a high scoring game scalping the important wicket of Shikhar Dhawan. With some quality death bowling display by Southee, RCB ensured a 14 run victory over the Sunrisers.
Here are a few things that went unnoticed amidst this high intense contest.
#1 AB de Villiers becomes the second South African to play 250 T20 Matches
En route his magnificent innings of 69 (39) against the Sunrisers Hyderabad and taking a stunner at the boundary line to dismiss the dangerous SRH opener Alex Hales, which might just be the catch of the tournament, AB de Villers became the second South African player after all-rounder Albie Morkel (307) to play 250 T20 matches.
The pack is led by the big West Indian Keiron Pollard with 421 matches. It was a memorable outing as AB’s masterclass with the bat well supported by Moeen Ali ensured that the hosts got past the 200 mark and earned a comfortable win over the Sunrisers.