The much-anticipated Eliminator clash in the Playoff of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 at Abu Dhabi on Thursday, turned out to be a low-scoring thriller.
It was the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) who held their nerves and trumped past Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by a margin of six wickets and booked their place in the second qualifiers.
Earlier, SRH captain David Warner won the toss and elected to bowl first on a visibly tired surface. RCB made some wholesale changes into their side by bringing in their heavyweights.
Captain Virat Kohli’s (6) move to open the batting and moving Aaron Finch (32 off 30) down at number three backfired instantly. Devdutt Padikkal (1) soon followed his skipper with the score at 15/2 by the fourth over.
Finch and AB de Villiers stitched a pivotal partnership which gave some sort of platform to RCB capitalize in the back end.
De Villiers scored yet another half-century to anchor the innings for his side. His scored a fluent 56 off just 43 deliveries, scoring five boundaries in the process.
Moreover, the lower middle-order for RCB did not support the South African maestro, and RCB ended with a par score of 131/7.
Jason Holder was the pick of the bowlers for SRH. The West Indies all-rounder took three wickets and conceded only 25 runs in his spell. The rest of the damage was done by spells from T Natarajan (2/33) and Shahbaz Nadeem (1/30).
Chasing 132, SRH received an early blow with the wicket of Shreevats Goswami (0). Soon, Mohd Siraj (2/28) sent back an in-form Warner (17), to clinch two wickets within powerplay.
RCB threatened to take the game away from SRH with the quick wickets of Manish Pandey (24) and Priyam Garg (7). Adam Zampa (1/12) and Yuzvendra Chahal (1/24) reduced SRH to 67/4 in the 12th over.
With a steep chase in front, internationals Kane Williamson, along with Holder (24 off 20), weaved a match-winning partnership of 62 runs which came off just 47 deliveries. The Kiwi scored scintillating 50* off 44 deliveries under pressure and entertained with two boundaries and an equal number of maximums. He also clinched the ‘Man of the Match’ title.
The two overseas cricketers kept their composure and did the job for their side, taking them to the second qualifier, where they play Delhi Capitals.
Brief Scores:
Sunrisers Hyderabad – 132/4 in 19.4 overs (Williamson 50*, Siraj 2/28) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore – 131/7 (De Villiers 56, Holder 3/25) by six wickets.
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