Bengaluru: Royal Challengers Bangalore held their nerves to registered a thrilling 14 run victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad at M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Thursday. The victory also kept alive chances of Virat Kohli’s side to enter the playoff.
Chasing 219 runs to win, SRH got of to good start as openers Shikhar Dhawan and Alex Hales posted 47 runs on board. Chahal provided the first breakthrough when he had Dhawan caught and bowled for just 18 runs.
Hales and skipper Kane Williamson put on 17 run stand for the second wicket. Hales who has earlier got two lifeline was finally dismissed after AB de Villiers pulled off a stunning one handed catch to dismiss the
Williamson then combined with Manish Pandey as both the batsmen put on 135 run stand to take the team closer to win. The match completely changed in RCB’s favour as Siraj dismissed Kane Williamson for 81 runs on the first ball of the 20th over. In the end the bowler held his nerve to take the team to victory.
SRH are 204-3 from 20 overs
SRH are 152-2 from 15 overs
Skipper Williamson is leading from the front as SRH are now in total control of the run chase. With Manish Pandey also supporting really well, the visiting side are smelling victory unless a dramatic collapse.
After surviving twice Alex Hales finally ran out of luck as AB de Villiers pulled of an absolute stunning catch just inside the boundary line to get the crowd at their feet. With Williamson still at crease SRH will be hoping to cross finish line
SRH are 47-1 from 5.1 overs
WICKET! Yuzvendra Chahal with the breakthrough. Shikhar Dhawan chips the ball back to the bowler. Soft dismissal for the left hander.
RCB innings
Half centuries by AB de Villiers and Moeen Ali and a cameo knock from Colin de Grandhomme helped Royal Challengers Bangalore register 218-6 in 20 overs against Sunrisers Hyderabad at Chinnaswamy Stadium on Thursday.
After losing openers Parthiv Patel and skipper Virat Kohli early, de Villiers and Ali put on 107 run partnership for the third wicket to give boost to RCB's scoring rate.
Rashid Khan double strike slowed down RCB's innings. Rashid first dismissed de Villiers after Shikhar Dhawan took a stunning catch at third man. Two balls later he got rid of Moeen Ali to open the doors for SRH comeback.
New Zealand all rounder Colin de Grandhomee then used long handle as he scored 40 runs in 17 balls to take RCB's total past 200 runs.
RCB are 149-4 from 15 overs
Rashid Khan double strike bring SRH back in the game. AB de Villiers was the first to go for 69 runs caught brilliantly at boundary by Shikhar Dhawan. Moeen Ali was the next to go 65 runs caught by Sreevats Goswami.
RCB are 84-2 from 10 overs
After two early wickets AB de Villiers and Moeen Ali have steadied RCB innings. Ali got a lifeline, when he was dropped by Shikhar Dhawan at 23 while fielding at long on.
RCB are 39-2 from 5 overs
Not a great start for the home side as Parthiv Patel and Virat Kohli are sent back to the dugout . AB de Villiers will now have the responsibility to anchor RCB innings.
WICKET! Virat LKohli sees his stumps castled by Rashid Khan. Huge blow for RCB. A googly from Rashid and Kohli misses it to see his timber being disturbed.
WICKET! Dream start for SRH Sandeep Sharma gets the first breakthrough. Parthiv Patel goes for just 1 run. Short of length delivery from Sharma and Patel edges it to Siddharth Kaul at third man.
Toss: SRH have won the toss and elected to bowl first
Kane Williamson makes one change in the side. Basil Thampi comes in for Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Royal Challengers Bangalore play the same side.
The two teams are here for the clash ahead.
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 17, 2018
Momentum with #RCB in key clash against table-toppers #SRH#RCBvSRH pic.twitter.com/sbEIlrcXeE
Preview: It cant get bigger than this and with season at stake Royal Challengers Banagalore will be looking to carry on the winning momentum on his home ground at M Chinnaswamy Stadium where they host Sunrisers Hyderabad on Thursday. A loss in this game will bring an end to RCB’s season
The consecutive victories over Delhi Daredevils and Kings XI Punjab have revived RCB's playoff chances and Virat Kohli-led side will look to win the match to put themselves in strong position.
SRH on the other hand has had a phenomenal season and were the first team to qualify for the playoffs after winning nine matches out of 12. The Orange Army batsman as well as bowlers have been in terrific form as skipper Kane Williamson have not tinkered with the playing XI.
While RCB are expected to field the same team, SRH will want to try their bench strength inorder to have a good look at other players before clash against Chennai Super Kings in the 1st qualifier.
When is the match?
The match is scheduled to start at 8 P.M. IST on Tuesday, May 17th.
Where is the match?
The match will take place at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru.
Live telecast and timings:
With Star India now acquiring the media rights from Sony Pictures Network India for the upcoming season, the matches will be telecast on various Star Sports channels.
Live streaming:
The matches can be viewed live on Hotstar.com or on the Hotstar app.
