IPL 2018, SRH vs RCB: 4 reasons why Bangalore lost against HyderabadÂ
It was the Southern Derby as hosts Sunrisers Hyderabad went up against the Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. Virat Kohli won the toss and decided to field first.
RCB started well as their bowlers found the right lengths and soon Southee was rewarded. He got the ball to swing and Hales’ middle stump was uprooted. A couple of overs later, Dhawan fell to local lad Siraj as RCB reduced the Sunrisers to 38 for 2 in the powerplay overs.
Pandey was sent packing soon after the powerplay overs to leave SRH in trouble at 48 for 3. SRH needed a partnership and they got one in the form of Williamson and Shakib. Both added 64 runs before Umesh Yadav came back into the attack and dismissed Williamson for a fine 56 of his last ball.
Once Williamson fell, SRH never really recovered and lost wickets in a cluster. They eventually got bundled out for 146 in 20 overs. Siraj and Southee were the picks of the bowlers with three wickets apiece.
Chasing 147, RCB got off to a decent start before Shakib provided the breakthrough to dismiss Parthiv, who was looking in good touch. Kolhi came in at three and started off brilliantly. RCB raced off to 55 for 1 in just six overs and were all set to chase down the score.
All of a sudden, RCB committed harakiri and lost quick wickets including the big wickets of Kohli and De Villiers. They were reduced to 84 for 5 and looked down and out. Mandeep and De Grandhomme came together and stitched a fine partnership but it was not enough as Bhuvneshwar held his nerve to eke out a 5-run win.
Let's take a look at the reasons which cost RCB the game.
#1 Letting SRH off the hook in the middle overs
RCB began the game well as they picked up Hales and Dhawan in the powerplay and reduced SRH to 38 for 2. RCB needed to cash in on their good start but it was not to be as they let SRH off the hook in the middle overs.
Williamson and Shakib batted sensibly to get SRH back into the game as RCB managed to pick up only a solitary wicket for 67 runs in overs 7 to 15. The middle overs did prove costly as RCB fell tantalizingly short of the target. With that win, SRH have more or less booked their spot in the top 4.