The league stage of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 is into the last four days and still, only Mumbai Indians (MI) have qualified for the playoff. In the second game of the double-header Saturday, two potential playoff contenders Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) locked horns with each other. While David Warner’ and his men registered to crush 5-wicket win over RCB as the latter suffered their third game in the row.
SRH opted to field upon winning the toss and their front-runner Sandeep Sharma dismissing Devdutt Padikkal as his stumps went for a cartwheel. He struck again with the prized wicket of RCB skipper, Virat Kohli. With their scoring rate going nowhere, RCB had their eyes on AB de Villiers, however, the batting stalwart looked scratchy as after smashing a six he was dismissed against Shahbaz Nadeem.
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The SRH bowlers completely dominated the game after the half-way mark as they completely suffocated the opponent’s middle-order in overs 11-15. Inflicting a short collapse, SRH bagged 3 wickets in a space of 10 balls in order to make sure that RCB fails to go berserk in the slog overs. Restricting them to an under-par 120 for 7, the Orange Army already laid a strong foundation of victory.
RCB bowlers struck early, as Washington Sundar dismissed David Warner, who managed only an edge straight to mid-on. Hammering the RCB bowlers despite the early jolt, Manish Pandey and Wriddhiman Saha managed to add 58 runs in the powerplay itself, and in order to continue the momentum, Pandey top-edged the ball to Chris Morris leaving his team 60/2 after 8 overs.
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The RCB bowlers managed to control the momentum then, Chahal struck again as he enticed Saha out of his crease, and ABD entrapped him in tandem from behind. With another quick wicket following in the form of Kane Williamson, RCB appeared to make a very improbable comeback. However, Jason Holder scored 26 off just 10 balls and helped his team to chase down eth total in just 14.1 overs.
Hits
Sandeep Sharma
Sandeep Sharma has always been a go-to bowler for SRH and he didn’t disappoint when the team needed him. Bowling his second over, he managed to scalp the in-form batsman, Virat Kohli on his fourth delivery itself. He completed his spell after scalping two wickets and conceded just 20 runs.
Wriddhiman Saha
Wriddhiman Saha has been enjoying a consistent run for SRH in the last couple of games for the IPL 2020. He was desperate to score, especially after being ignored for most of the parts of the tournament. He amassed as many as 39 runs in just 32 deliveries with the help of 4 fours and a six.
Flops
AB de Villiers
It’s been the third consecutive game when AB de Villiers has failed miserably. RCB hasn’t managed to win a single match since his brilliant knock against KKR.
Virat Kohli
After scoring match-winning fifties against RR and CSK, Virat Kohli has been fairly consistent for RCB, but in some matches, he has failed to gain momentum in the middle. For RCB to have a chance to reach the final, he needs to play at a better strike-rate.
