IPL 2024: Royal Challengers Bengaluru crush Sunrisers Hyderabad by 35 runs
Royal Challengers Bengaluru defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad by 35 runs at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Thursday. SRH were held to 171 for 8 in 20 overs in their pursuit of 207.
Earlier, RCB scored 206 for seven after electing to bat first. Virat Kohli’s steady 43-ball 51, Rajat Patidar’s quickfire 20-ball 50, and Cameron Green’s 20-ball 37 not out helped RCB pass the 200-run barrier in 20 overs. For SRH, Jaydev Unadkat (3/30) took three wickets, while T Natarajan (2/39) and Mayank Markande (1/42) performed well.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) scored more than 200 runs for the third day in a row, setting a target of 207 for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). They’ve gotten off to a great start on defence, dismissing both of SRH’s threatening openers and Aiden Markram during the powerplay.
Travis Head fell in the first over, while Abhishek Sharma fell in the fourth. Markram was then bowled out in the fifth over by newcomer Swapnil Singh, followed by SRH batting star Heinrich Klaasen on the final ball of that over. SRH has already lost four wickets in the powerplay for the first time this season.
The collapse continued as the SRH hitters attempted to preserve their reputation for big hitting and perished. Karn Sharma dropped Nitish Reddy and Abdul Samad, two well-known Indian batting prospects, down the order for SRH. They did, however, make it through their whole 20-over innings, finishing at 171/8.
SRH Playing 11: Abhishek Sharma, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen(w), Nitish Reddy, Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahmed, Pat Cummins(c), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, Mayank Markande, T Natarajan.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru Impact Subs: Suyash Prabhudessai, Anuj Rawat, Himanshu Sharma, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Swapnil Singh
Rajat Patidar is the player of the match: “I was just keeping the things in my mind that I have to control the controllables. I kept doing the things I was doing for so long. My mindset and technique in my batting, whenever I go back home I try to solve every problem that I face. I go for the skillful batting setup. Today I was just backing myself to be in good shape to every bowler.”
RCB captain Faf du Plessis: “I forgot I had to speak at the presentation. Every game I just speak after it and walk away. The SRH game was 270+ and we got to 260, then the KKR game as well, just one run. We’ve been close for a while but you need to win matches to get confidence in the group. Massive win for us. When you’re not winning it does affect you mentally, it does affect your confidence. You can’t speak confidence into the group, you can’t fake confidence into the group. The only thing that gives confidence is performance. First half of the competition we felt like we weren’t near our potential. And when you’re playing at 50% or 60%, you don’t get the confidence. Last week and a half we have been working hard to make sure we get better at the game. Rajat getting back to back fifties will be great for him. Greeny playing well will be massive to him. It’s never going to be just one guy getting the runs. Obviously we know that the Chinnaswamy has been disappointing for us. We are trying to find a recipe where we feel like we can bowl at that ground. And it’s been tough for the guys to find a formula. A legspinner, even more so now, you have to have a legspinner in your team.”
