Sunrisers Hyderabad late surge in IPL 2020 is surely not a fluke as the team defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore in Eliminator by six wickets to keep themselves in the title race in Abu Dhabi.
The team will now face Delhi Capitals in Qualifiers 2 in less than 48 hours at the same venue for a spot in the final.
The victory didn’t come their way easy despite a clinical show by their bowlers earlier in the innings to restrict RCB at 131/7. The dew factor, which has always been the decisive factor while chasing, gave it a rain check on the day to present an even battle for the neutral fans.
It in fact took a match-winning knock from former skipper Kane Williamson (44-ball 50) after the top-order departed adding barely 53 runs in the first 9 overs against a RCB who wasn’t willing to give up. Jason Holder, who took three wickets earlier in the innings, took SRH past the finishing line with two boundaries in the last over.
Chasing the below par total, SRH were jolted before they could open their account. Sreevats Goswami, who came in the game for injured Wriddhiman Saha, fell prey to Mohammed Siraj in the third ball of the innings.
However, Manish Pandey quickly killed off the momentum with a six and a boundary in the next over to put SRH run chase on the track. David Warner soon joined in as well with a quick 17-ball 17. However, the skipper fell to Siraj in a controversial DRS call with 43 runs on the board in the sixth over.
RCB pounced on this opportunity quickly as 12 runs later Adam Zampa got Pandey (24) caught behind in the ninth over to spice up things.
Boundaries dried up with two quick wickets and while no.4 Kane Williamson and Priyam Garg found it hard to get going against Zampa and Yuzvendra Chahal, who asserted pressure on a pitch that provided them turn.
This soon bear fruit as Garg, in an attempt to unleash himself, fell for Chahal’s trick with a rash shot in the 12th over.
With 64 needed of 48, SRH just needed one partnership to take the game and that came for the fifth wicket between Williamson and Jason Holder. While Holder was silent partner in the stand, Williamson shot timely boundaries to keep the scoreboard ticking.
Earlier in the first innings, all-rounder Jason Holder picked three wickets as SRH restricted RCB to 131/7 in 20 overs.
Most of RCB's runs came through the blade of AB de Villiers, who scored 56. He was dismissed by an inch-perfect yorker from T Natarajan that took out his middle stump.
RCB captain Virat Kohli opened the innings with Devdutt Padikkal with Josh Philippe dropped and Aaron Finch batting No.3. The experiment didn't produce results as Kohli and fellow opener Devdutt Padikkal fell within the first four overs to Holder while Finch departed having made a 30-ball 32 and Finch fell to Shahbaz Nadeem. Holder also dismissed Shivam Dube while Rashid Khan went wicketless but conceded just 22 runs in his four overs.
