Former champions Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) came up with a dominating performance, as they outplayed Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in Match 52 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020, in Sharjah, on Saturday. It was Sandeep Sharma's great spell of 220 that immensely helped the side in staying alive for the playoffs contention.
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Match summary: Winning the toss, SRH skipper David Warner opted to bowl, as RCB were off to a shaky start. Nonetheless, courtesy Josh Philippe's 32, they posted a below-par total of 1207, while Sandeep and Jason Holder claimed a couple each. In reply, the SRH batsmen played comfortably, as Wriddhiman Saha's subtle knock of 39 was enough to see them through, by five wickets.
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Meanwhile, following the game, Sandeep was all-delighted with his performance, especially on dismissing Kohli seven times in the tournament to date. "I have been bowling the knuckle-ball, Jonny (Bairstow) has been helping me. It took around three or four months to get it right. Kohli is one of the greatest batsmen, so getting him out is special. Now we are finding the momentum with one game to go. We are excited about that, let's see what happens," he said.
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Furthermore, SRH skipper David Warner, too, hailed the all-round effort from his side, as they are now serious contenders for the playoffs. "Coming into this game, we knew we had to beat the top two teams, in order to progress. We got one more to go against Mumbai. Losing Vijay is a big miss. For us, we have worked out, how to go about at the top of the order," he said after the win.
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"With the bowling, all the credit goes to them. We are finding the right balance and the right partnerships. To go for less than 20 in four overs, it's ridiculous. The wicket is slowing up a bit, and the bowlers got to adapt to it. Tonight, the bowlers have executed it well," added Warner.
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He also hailed Jason Holder's bowling performance, as he noted, "Dubai has been the same, I think it gets dewy here. It wasn't a surprise at all. Holder's a great all-rounder. To bowl a bouncer against someone like him, you have to dig it very short. It's great to have that consistency. We knew we had to win today, and that's the case in the next game. In 2016, we had to win three games, and we did that."
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Meanwhile, RCB skipper Kohli was unhappy with the low-scoring performance from their batsman and urged his side to be bold in their last game against Delhi Capitals (DC). "It was never enough. We thought 140 might be a good total to sort of get into the game on that kind of wicket. Things changed drastically in the second innings. There was a lot of dew, which we didn't quite predict. They got it right at the toss eventually," he said.
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"In the end, it was very difficult to hold the ball. Strange one. In between, we thought the weather has become pleasant, and there wasn't any dew, but last few games in Dubai, and here as well, there has been dew. The pattern keeps changing, but regardless, you need to have runs on the board. We weren't brave enough with the bat throughout the innings and credit to them - they used the pitch well and the change of pace," Kohli further added.
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"It is a competitive tournament, and you can't take any games lightly or any teams for granted, the situation is in front of us - we have to win our last game, to hopefully finish in the top two. It also gives teams a chance to make a comeback," continued Kohli.
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"Having said that, it makes you aware of your downfalls, as a team and things that you need to correct going forward. It is going to be a cracker of a game, with both teams locked in at 14 points. I have always been a Bangalore boy in the IPL, never sort of drifted towards Delhi," Kohli concluded.
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RCB would be taking on DC in Abu Dhabi on Monday, while SRH play defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) in their final clash on Tuesday, in Sharjah. MI are the only side to have qualified for the playoffs so far.
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