Riding on the brilliance of their skipper David Warner and backed by a razor-sharp attack, Sunrisers Hyderabad first stunned and then silenced the Royal Challengers Bangalore to seal their maiden IPL trophy.
Going first up at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium and rattling off an imposing 208/7, Warner and Co. took the Gayle storm in their stride to peg the Challengers to 200/7 for an eight-run victory on Sunday night. It was to prove even third time unlucky for the home team as Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mustafizur Rahman proved too much for Virat Kohli’s loyalists.
In the chase, Chris Gayle (76, 38b) had been at his murderous best, leaving even the prolific Kohli (54, 35b, 5x4 2x6), who missed out on the tantalising 1,000-run mark in the wake. Up against a stiff target, the Jamaican took off like a battering ram, plundering the Eagles’ attack with the openers putting on 114 in 63 deliveries.
Eight mighty sixes and four boundaries thundered from the West Indian’s willow as the Challengers raced to their fifty in 4.4 overs while emulating the Sunrisers’ Powerplay of 59 from six.
Cutting, who had laid into the hosts bowlers earlier, was given special treatment by Gayle as he brought up his 50 off 25 deliveries with a straight maximum. Given the mood he was in, the Challengers’ 100 came off just nine overs with Gayle contributing 74 with a sedate Kohli on 20.
But that’s when the wheels fell off. Kohli, reprieved by Mustafizur, back in the XI after recovering from a hamstring pull, dropped him off Cutting but Gayle wasn’t so lucky, Bipul Sharma latching onto a slash at third-man.
Kohli quickened his pace, completed his seventh fifty with an inside-out six of Barinder Sran before an inside-edge gave the bowler a prized wicket.
AB de Villiers’ miscued hit off Bipul ended in Moises Henriques’ hands at mid-off, K.L. Rahul was castled to a shocking slog-sweep while Watson, having conceded a horrendous 61 from four earlier, failed again with the bat, exposing the middle order which caved in.
Earlier, it didn’t matter to Warner that he was enveloped in a sea of red, the Sunrisers skipper in imperious form all through the season took off from where he left in the Qualifier 2. Warner (69, 38b, 8x4, 3x6), with a voracious appetite for runs, notched his ninth fifty of the season, tallying 848 in the process, to guide his team with solid help from a big-hitting Ben Cutting (39 n.o., 15b, 3x4, 4x4) and Yuvraj Singh (38, 23b, 4x4, 2x6) to a 200-plus score.
A full house packed the venue and the rains, which had threatened to spoil the party, kept away.
Scoreboard Sunrisers Hyderabad: D. Warner c Iqbal Abdulla b Aravind 69, S. Dhawan c Jordan b Chahal 28, M. Henriques c Chahal b Jordan 4, Yuvraj Singh c Watson b Jordan 38, D. Hooda c Kohli b Aravind 3, Ben Cutting (not out) 39, N. Ojha run out 7, Bipul Sharma c Chahal b Jordan 5, B. Kumar (not out) 1. Extras: (b 1, lb 2, w 11) 14. Total: (for 7 wkts, in 20 overs) 208 FoW: 1-63, 2-97, 3-125, 4-147, 5-148, 6-158, 7-174 Bowling: Aravind 4-0-30-2, Gayle 3-0-24-0 (2w), Watson 4-0-61-0 (2w), Chahal 4-0-35-1, Abdulla 1-0-10-0, Jordan 4-0-45-3 (2w)
Royal Challengers Bang-alore: C. Gayle c Sharma b Cutting 76, V. Kohli b Sran 54, AB de Villiers c Henriques b Sharma 5, K. Rahul b Cutting 11, S. Watson c Henriques b Rahman 11, S. Baby (not out) 18, S. Binny run out 9, C. Jordan run out 3, I. Abdulla (not out) 4. Extras: (lb 5, w 4) 9. Total: (for 7 wkts, in 20 overs) 200 FoW: 1-114, 2-140, 3-148, 4-160, 5-164, 6-180, 7-194 Bowling: Kumar 4-0-25-0 (1w), Sran 3-0-41-1 (2w), Cutting 4-0-35-2 (1w), Rahman 4-0-37-1, Henriques 3-0-40-0, Sharma 2-0-17-1
