IPL 2018, RCB vs SRH: Hits and Misses
The action returned to the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore after more than two weeks as Royal Challengers Bangalore faced Sunrisers Hyderabad. Kane Williamson won the toss and had no hesitation in bowling first.
RCB didn’t get off to the best of starts as they lost both opener, Parthiv Patel and skipper Virat Kohli inside 5 overs. But Moeen Ali and AB de Villiers batted beautifully as they shared a fantastic 107-run stand in just 57 deliveries. De Villiers scored a scintillating 39-ball 69 while Moeen made a superb 65 in 34 balls.
However, the duo got out in the 15th over and it looked like RCB might lose all the momentum. But Colin de Grandhomme (17-ball 40) and Sarfaraz Khan (8-ball 22) played brilliant cameos and propelled RCB to 218.
In reply, SRH got off to a good start but lost both their openers in the space of 3 overs. AB de Villiers took a blinder to dismiss Alex Hales who was looking very good. But Kane Williamson kept the ‘Men in Orange’ in the hunt as he scored a superb 81.
Manish Pandey scored a very good 62 as well as the two shared a superb 135-run stand for the third wicket. But Williamson fell in the final over and that turned the game in RCB’s favour as they held their nerve to register their 6th win of the tournament.
This win kept RCB alive as they climbed to the fifth spot on the points table with 12 points.
#5 Miss: Virat Kohli
Without a doubt, Virat Kohli has been RCB’s best batsman this season. It was the fifth time he scored more than 500 runs in an IPL season (which is a record). In another must-win encounter, the onus was once again on Kohli and AB de Villiers to pull RCB through.
The RCB skipper walked out to open the batting alongside Parthiv Patel for the second game in a row. Batting first, Kohli got off to an excellent start as he drove one down the ground and got off the mark with a beautiful boundary. But he played just 6 deliveries in the first 4 overs as he saw AB de Villiers 5 boundaries in that phase.
Rashid then came onto bowl in the 5th over and bowled 3 dots to start. Kohli then pulled one to the fence for his second boundary. However, the RCB premier batsman fell to a poor shot and was castled. He tried to slog one across the line only to see his stumps shattered. Kohli fell for an 11-ball 12 and his wicket reduced RCB to 38/2.