The Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) can again be a force to reckon in the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). For two games in a row, they registered scores in excess of 200 and registered dominating wins in both the games. Jonny Bairstow and David Warner set the Hyderabad on fore with their respective centuries in the game. They batted beautifully to hand over SRH this massive victory of 118 runs against Royals Challengers Bangalore (RCB).
RCB’s batting performance during the chase has raised quite a few eyebrows. There weren’t any demons in the pitch and it was absolutely a belter. But for the second time in three matches, RCB brought a miserable performance with the bat. With three back-to-back losses. They are planted at the bottom of the points table and have already put themselves under immense pressure in the tournament.
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An absolute massacre by the SRH openers followed after RCB asked the hosts to bat first. Warner and Jonny Bairstow went all guns blazing over the bowlers and left the bowlers clueless. They didn’t take any time to settle in and got going straight away. Warner was the aggressor initially but Bairstow caught up eventually.
Not often fans see Warner getting dominated by his partner in a partnership. But, Bairstow unbelievable knock made that happen and Warner played the second fiddle. They amassed 185 runs for the opening wicket, which became the highest opening partnership in the history of the tournament. bairstow reached his maiden IPL century in just three innings, the joint second-fewest innings for any batsman in the IPL along with the likes of Andrew Symonds.
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The Englishman took just 51 balls to get to his century and was eventually dismissed for 114 runs with the help of 12 fours and 7 sixes in his innings. Meanwhile, his opening partner got to his century in the final over of the innings and took 54 balls to reach the milestone. Vijay Shankar, who came in at the fall of Bairstow’s wicket, hit a six of the first ball and was run out after scoring 9 off 3 balls. SRH finished with a humungous tally of 231/2 on the board after 20 overs.
In the chase, the RCB batsmen were expected to put up a big fight. However, exactly opposite happened as Mohammad Nabi was lethal with the ball and chipped in with four wickets in his four overs. He only gave away 11 runs and for the crucial wickets of Parthiv Patel, Shimron Hetmyer, AB de Villiers and Shivam Dube.
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Virat Kohli, yet again, got out to Sandeep Sharma for the sixth time in the IPL. With this wicket, Sharma joined the likes of Ashish Nehra who also dismissed Kohli six times. In RCB’s top-six, only Parthiv managed to get to the double digits. Though, Colin de Grandhomme came to the rescue. He helped RCB escape the embarrassment with a 37. Moreover, the team managed to go past 100 runs after these efforts. RCB was bowled out for 113 runs in 19.5 overs and lost the match by 118 runs.
Brief Score:
Sunrisers Hyderabad – 231/2 in 20 overs (J Bairstow: 114, D Warner: 100*; Y Chahal: 1/44) defeated Royals Challengers Bangalore – 113 in 19.5 overs (C Grandhomme: 37; M Nabi: 4/11) by 118 runs.
Here is how Twitterati reacted to SRH’s win:
The one thing that won’t get much of a mention but should are @jbairstow21 & @davidwarner31 fitness levels … 40 degrees and they are taking 2s for Fun … if you want to be World class ya need to be a fitness freak as well as a Cricket freak … #IPL2019
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) March 31, 2019
Two 100s in same inns in #IPL (& fourth time in T20 cricket!)
2 (Kohli and de Villiers) – RCB v GL (Bangalore) 2016
2 (Bairstow and Warner) – SRH v RCB (Hyderabad) 2019#SRHvRCB#IPL2019— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) March 31, 2019
Warner & Bairstow's stand of 185 is the highest opening partnership in the history of the IPL, going past the 184* stand between Gambhir & Lynn v Gujarat Lion in IPL 2017. #IPL2019 #SRHvRCB
— The Cricket Prof. (@CricProf) March 31, 2019
David Warner now has been involved in 10 century stands for the opening wicket in the IPL; the most by any player surpassing Chris Gayle (9).
Both Warner and Gayle featured in 18 100-run stands for any wicket in the IPL; the joint-most by anyone. #IPL2019 #SRHvRCB
— Sampath Bandarupalli (@SampathStats) March 31, 2019
Not many can out do @davidwarner31 but @jbairstow21 is doing today … Outstanding partnership created by @SunRisers !!! #ipl2019
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) March 31, 2019
SRH to RCB today. #SRHvRCB #IPL2019 pic.twitter.com/migBVYxKnE
— Nikhil 🏏 (@CricCrazyNIKS) March 31, 2019
Colin de Grandhomme:
2017 – Picked the last two wickets during RCB's lowest IPL total of 49.
2019 – Scored 37 to help RCB avoid the biggest IPL defeat in runs.#IPL2019 #SRHvRCB— Sampath Bandarupalli (@SampathStats) March 31, 2019
Year after year, RCB don’t seem to have much clue about bowling balance… do they?! #IPL2019 #SRHvRCB
— Chetan Narula (@chetannarula) March 31, 2019
*Le RCB bowlers after beaten harder by Jonny Bairstow and David Warner..#SRHvRCB #IPL2019 pic.twitter.com/42B2DpgNcy
— 20may (@mistervismy) March 31, 2019
Today's Match Summary :#SRHvRCB #IPL2019 #VIVOIPL pic.twitter.com/1o9TsrhDBP
— Pritam Basak (@Pritzz2000) March 31, 2019
death overs take a whole new meaning when RCB are bowling #IPL2019 #SRHvRCB
— Gaurav Kalra (@gauravkalra75) March 31, 2019