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.
Here is how Twitter reacted to RCB’s loss:
A 5-wicket win and two crucial points in the bag for @SunRisers 💪💪#Dream11IPL pic.twitter.com/rsuO6svtVx
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) October 31, 2020
4 games to go, 6 teams still in contention for 3 play off spots. only #CSK have a confirmed date of departure from the middle east! #IPL2020 #SRHvsRCB
— Gaurav Kalra (@gauravkalra75) October 31, 2020
The win for #SRH has ensured we won't be having a single dead rubber in #IPL2020
Have to wait till the 56th match to know who are the four sides to qualify.
DC-RCB on Monday a virtual QF for Qualifier 1 vs #MI #RCBvsSRH
— Deepu Narayanan (@deeputalks) October 31, 2020
There should be soft-signal in these cases!!!
Ask the umpire what he thinks. Touched the hand or not. After all he’s in the best position. And then overrule if you have conclusive evidence. My two cents. #Chahal #Kane #RunOut— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) October 31, 2020
Brilliant from Jason Holder. So #MI will definitely finish at No 1, either #DC or #RCB will go through with 16 and two teams will qualify with 14 points. Wide open. What a climax to the #Dream11IPL.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) October 31, 2020
When your mrs can’t find the tv remote so she makes you stand up but there’s nothing there pic.twitter.com/47XyunIcWB
— Jimmy Neesham (@JimmyNeesh) October 31, 2020
Delhi have lost 4 in a row.
RCB have lost 3 in a row.
Their only remaining match is against each other.
Finally one will win and seal the No. 2 spot on Monday.#IPL2020 #RCBvDC
— Bharath Seervi (@SeerviBharath) October 31, 2020
