Royal Challengers Bangalore’s hopes of making it to the play-offs were all but dashed as Sunrisers Hyderabad handed them their seventh defeat in 10 games at the Rajib Gandhi International Stadium on Monday.
Put into bat, Sunrisers managed to post 146 on tricky wicket thanks largely to a fighting 56-run knock by skipper Kane Williamson. RCB, though, spluttered in their chase as spinner Rashid Khan and pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar starred with a clinical bowling display.
The win takes Sunrisers two points clear at top of the IPL standings, while RCB are now left with just a slim mathematical chance of making the knockouts.
Here are the talking points from the keenly contested low-scoring encounter:
Williamson’s consistency
In the absence of David Warner, Kane Williamson has stepped up to the task with aplomb this season. Both as captain and batsman, the New Zealander has been a class apart.
On Monday, he notched up another half-century to anchor his side’s batting effort on a slow and tricky wicket.
Williamson currently averages 51.25 in the tournament, having notched up 410 runs in 10 games. The heartening aspect of his effort, though, has been the circumstances and the manner in which he has scored these runs. Most of his half-centuries have come at a time when the rest of his batting line-up has spluttered. Sunrisers have on several occasions this season have ended up with modest totals, with only an innings by Williamson serving as a difference between a modest and lowly total.
In Monday’s match against Royal Challengers Bangalore in Hyderabad, the story wasn’t very different. With Sunrisers tottering at 48/3, there was an urgent need for a batsman to take the reigns and bring some stability. Williamson stepped up to the challenge just as he has done on several occasions earlier this season.
It wasn’t easy task, though. The pitch was slow and scoring at a steady clip wasn’t an easy proposition. He found able support in Shakib Al Hasan. Together, the duo added 64 runs for the fourth wicket. The effort took Sunrisers to a position from where they could launch towards a competitive total. The 27-year-old even led the charge in the hitting department as smashed a few boundaries off Umesh Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal to get to his fifty. He departed soon after, but by then had ensured his side has something to bowl at.
Yusuf’s stunning catch
While Royal Challengers Bangalore were never really cruising in their chase, there was a juncture where an RCB win seemed like the logical result. Skipper Virat Kohli had eased into the 30s with a flurry of boundaries with AB de Villiers, fresh out of the pavilion, standing at the other end. The visitors had notched up 75 runs for the loss of two wickets. Sunrisers, though, had let the momentum slip with a few dropped catches.
It felt like the hosts had surrendered the match. It was the half-way stage of RCB’s innings and they needed just another 72 runs from the remaining overs. With their two best batsmen at the crease, not many would have doubted a victory for RCB at the stage.
Williamson, though, sensed the critical nature of the moment and introduced spin from both ends. After a tight over from Rashid Ali, Shakib came into bowl from the other end. He struck immediately even as Yusuf Pathan pulled of a stunning one-handed catch over his head at short third man to turn the tie... well, on its head.
Rashid dismissed de Villiers in the very next over. The South African fell almost uncharacteristically. He read the googly but was slow into the shot and failed to cut the ball away and was bowled. RCB were now left stuttering at 80/4, their chase left in a muddle.
Deft death bowling
Defending low totals has become a penchant for the Sunrisers bowlers. Earlier in the season, they pulled a rabbit out of the hat when they defended 118 against a hapless Mumbai Indians outfit at the Wankhede Stadium. They followed it up by defending 132 against Kings XI Punjab at home. Later in Jaipur, Williamson and Co prevailed despite being restricted to 151/7 while batting first. On Monday, they faced another tough task. They had to defend another lowly total - 146.
Much of Sunrisers’ success so far lies with the way their bowlers have fared. Led by India pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, the bowlers have been clinical. Even when Bhuvi was laid low with injury, the bowling department did not let the intensity slip.
With pacers and spinners complementing each other well, Sunrisers have, at times, looked impervious when they bowl. Backed by impeccable fielding standards, the team, which now sits on top of the IPL standings is emerging as one of the favourites to clinch the title.
On Monday, the bowlers produced another masterclass in the art of bowling in a T20. After the ripples caused by the spinners, it was the pacers who finished the job.
RCB were given some hope as Colin de Grandhomme produced a cameo towards the end. With two sixes off Rashid, he had propelled RCB to within 25 runs of their target. Only three overs lay between RCB and a crucial win that would have put them back in contention for a place in the play-offs.
Williamson, though, had Bhuvneshwar at his disposal for the death overs. He conceded just six runs in the 18th over. The tension, though, was building and Sunrisers needed a stable effort in the all-important 19th over. Siddharth Kaul was up to the task. Not a single boundary was conceded in that over as Kaul, like Bhuvneshwar in the earlier over, threw his entire gamut of variations at the batsmen. RCB, though, were still alive in the chase with 12 runs remaining from the last six balls.
Bhuvneshwar, who was came into bowl the last over, though, had other ideas. He drilled in two yorkers first up. Followed it up with a slower length ball, before angling in another yorker off the fourth delivery. The batsmen could manage just five runs off the first four deliveries.
RCB, though, were still in with a chance. All they needed were two lusty blows or even one that would help them level the scores. Mandeep Singh came down the track in an attempt to smash the penultimate ball out of the park, he missed and could manage only a single as it crashed into his pads. De Grandhomme now had the unenviable task of hitting a six off the last delivery. He was bowled as walked across the line to whip it over the fence on the leg side. Bhuvneshwar was on point with another yorker.