The Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated the Royal Challengers Bangalore on Monday by 5 runs in a last over thriller where, arguably the best bowling attack in the tournament won. At the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad, SRH batted first and despite Kane Williamson (56) and Shakib Al Hasan’s (35) healthy contributions with the bat managed a modest 146 runs on the board.
However, RCB started their run chase on a good note and until Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers departed in quick succession, Bangalore looked all set to win the match as if it was a cake in the walk. SRH, though, had other ideas and showed why they are one of the strong contenders of winning the tournament this year.
In perhaps an unprecedented phase of death bowling SRH conceded just 18 runs in the last 3 overs, winning the match by 5 runs. Needing 12 runs to win off the last over, with Colin de Grandhomme out in the middle, the batting team would fancy their chances on most occasions. However, against one of the best bowlers in the world- Bhuvneshwar Kumar, RCB managed to score only 6 runs.
This was SRH’s 8th win in the ongoing season and they have more or less qualified for the Play offs. SRH are perching at the top of the points table with 4 matches remaining in the league stage. RCB on the other hand are virtually out of the competition,hoping to get some results to go in their favor and win all the remianing matches which is highly unlikely. This was RCB’s 7th defeat in as many games.
On a wicket where most batsmen struggled to score runs, Kane Williamson’s 56 off 39 was adjudged worthy of a man of the match recognition.
