Marco Jansen-inspired Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) bowling lineup demolished Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai. April 23 turned out to be a forgettable for RCB once again as they got bundled out for a paltry 68. SRH won the match with 72 balls to spare and the massive win also helped SRH make a huge jump in the points table to occupy the second spot.
Near-flawless run chase
With mere 69 to defend, RCB bowlers lacked the will to rip through opponent's top order with the new ball. Opener Abhishek Sharma was sensational in the powerplay overs as he scored 47 runs from 28 deliveries including eight fours and one six.
Skipper Kane Williamson played cautiously and let Abhishek take on low-on-confidence RCB bowlers. The southpaw missed his half-century as Harshal Patel got a consolation wicket in the eight over.
The wicket had no effect on the run chase. Rahul Tripathi came in to bat and finished the game in style with a maximum.
Jansen’s unforgettable first over
21-year-old Jansen wrecked RCB’s top order in his first over. First, he got through former South African skipper Faf du Plessis’ defense. The left-arm pacer followed it up with the wicket of former RCB skipper Virat Kohli. The young pacer drew Kohli on the front foot and managed to get an outside edge which went to slip fielder Aiden Markram. Opener Anuj Rawat suffered a similar fate and edged it to Markram as well. He gave just three runs and broke the back of RCB batting lineup.
No Maxwell special
Glenn Maxwell looked to get RCB back on track with a couple of boundaries off Jansen but soon enough another left-arm pacer joined the party. T Natarajan got rid of Maxwell in the fifth over reducing RCB to 20/4. RCB managed to score only 31 runs in the powerplay overs.
Suchith's double blow
Left-arm spinner Jagadeesha Suchith was introduced after the powerplay overs. In his second over, he ended the resistance of Suyash Prabhudessai. The uncapped batter scored 15 runs from 20 deliveries and got stumped out as a massive heave dragged his foot out of the crease.
In the same over, Suchith got the wicket of Dinesh Karthik off a delivery which was initially signaled wide by the umpire. Williamson reviewed it and the ultraedge showed a faint edge off Karthik’s bat. The wicketkeeper-batter got out for a three-ball duck which almost ensured that RCB will not cross the 100-run mark.
More wickets
In the next over pace sensation Umran Malik got a wicket off a harmless delivery. Shahbaz tried to pull the short ball but only managed an edge to wicketkeeper Nicholas Pooran. Natarajan came back into the attack and got Harshal bowled for a single-digit score.
Tail doesn’t wag
Wanindu Hasaranga and Josh Hazlewood tried to hang around till the end and accumulate as many runs as they can. However, Natarajan struck again and got the wicket of Hasaranga. Bhuvneshwar Kumar got the wicket of no.11 batter Siraj off the first ball of his second spell to wrap up RCB's innings for 68 in 16.1 overs.
Only two RCB batters scored in double digits whereas three got out without troubling the scorers.
