Royal Challengers Bengaluru recorded a dominant 35-run win to halt Sunrisers Hyderabad's winning run in the 41st match of the IPL 2024. Defending 206 at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Bengaluru spinners shone early to end RCB's six-game losing run.
Despite a heavy loss, Pat Cummins-led Sunrisers Hyderabad remain in the third position in the points table with five wins. With two wins in nine games, Bengaluru remain in contention to secure playoff qualification.
After winning the toss, Faf du Plessis elected to bat first with the same playing eleven that suffered a 1-run loss against KKR in the last game. Virat Kohli and Rajat Patidar scored brilliant fifties and Cameron Green played a quickfire cameo to post a challenging total of 206/7 in 20 overs.
Debutant spin all-rounder Swapnil Singh and experienced Karn Sharma produced match-winning spells in the early stages to give RCB control and then Cameron Green picked two wickets for 12 to restrict Sunrisers Hyderabad to 171/8.
RCB needed two points to keep their hopes alive for playoff qualification having won only once in the first eight matches. They produced an impressive all-round performance against the team which is dominating the tournament with three 250+ totals.
Patidar continued his rejuvenated form with his third fifty in the last four matches. He took only 19 balls to reach fifty but Kohli struggled for big shots despite starting aggressively. Kohli top-scored with 51 runs off 43 balls to record his fifth fifty-plus score.
Having posted a record 287 total in the first leg against RCB, the hosts lost in-form Travis Head in the first over off Will Jacks. Opener Abhishek Sharma kept Sunrisers ahead in the game by 31 runs off just 13 balls but was not able to convert it into a big innings.
Swapnil Singh, making his RCB debut, dismissed Aiden Markram and in-form Heinrich Klaasen in the powerplay overs to keep RCB in the dominant position for a big win. Hyderabad never threatened to make a comeback but avoided losing all wickets with the former RCB all-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed top-scoring with 40* off 37 balls.
Sunrisers Hyderabad Playing XI: Abhishek Sharma, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Nitish Reddy, Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahmed, Pat Cummins (c), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, Mayank Markande, T Natarajan (substituted by Travis Head).
Royal Challengers Bangalore Playing XI: Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis (c), Rajat Patidar (substituted by Swapnil Singh), Cameron Green, Will Jacks, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Mahipal Lomror, Karn Sharma, Lockie Ferguson, Mohammed Siraj, Yash Dayal.
