SRH defeated RCB by 42 runs in a high-scoring thriller and made their chances of finishing in the Top 2 difficult. RCB seemed rusty on the field, hoping this bad day never repeats again for them this season in the playoffs.
Poor bowling strategies
RCB bowlers were giving the ball in the arc for both the openers, Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head, in the powerplay. It led to a fantastic opening partnership of 54 runs in just 3.5 overs. Abhishek Sharma scored 34 runs off 17 balls, and Travis Head was dismissed for 17 runs off 10 balls.
After them, Ishan Kishan and Henrich Klaasen continued the momentum. Klaasen played a small cameo of 24 runs off 13 balls and lost his wicket to Suyash Sharma in the 9th over when the score was 102. Pat Cummins made a smart move by sending Aniket Verma ahead of Nitish Kumar Reddy because he has better records against spinners.
Aniket did his job well and played another cameo of 26 runs off just 9 balls. He smashed the spinners. RCB spinners Krunal Pandya and Suyash Sharma conceded 83 runs in their 7 overs combined. SRH batters never allowed them to settle.
After Aniket’Â Verma’s wicket in the 12th over ( 145/4 at 11.4 ), Ishan Kishan took the responsibility of accelerating the scorecard. With the help of a small cameo from Pat Cummins ( 13* off 6 ), SRH posted a huge total of 231/6 in 20 overs.
RCB bowlers, Bhuveneshwar Kumar and Yash Dayal, couldn’t nail their Yorkers and slower ones in the death overs.
Choked at the death overs
RCB started the chase well with an amazing opening stand of 80 runs in 7 overs. Virat Kohli gave an aggressive start and lost his wicket ( 43 runs off 25 balls ) to Harsh Dubey in the last ball of the 7th over. Phil Salt, who was playing the role of second fiddle until Virat was there, took charge of accelerating the innings after him.
He scored a brilliant knock of 62 runs from 32 balls and lost his wicket in the 12th over ( 129/3 in 11.2 overs ). Pat Cummins dismissed him. After that Jitesh Sharma and Rajat Patidar maintained the momentum until the 15th over. RCB are well in control of the chase with 167/3 after 15 overs.
Eshan Malinga came to bowl the 16th over. He dismissed both Rajat Patidar and the dangerous Romario Sheperd in the gap of three balls and conceded just 7 runs in that over. The momentum shifted towards SRH from there.
Jaydev Unadakt bowled the 17th over and gave just 5 runs and took the wicket of Jitesh Sharma. RCB’s batting completely collapsed. Tim David was injured while fielding, so he couldn’t create much impact with the bat ( 1 run off 5 balls ).
From 167/3 in 15, they collapsed to 189 all out in 19.5 overs. They lost their last 7 wickets for just 22 runs in 29 balls. Ishan Kishan played the whole innings for SRH. But, both the settled batters Virat Kohli and Phil Salt got out at the wrong time. Jitesh ( 24 off 15 )and Patidar ( 18 off 16 ) got starts but they couldn’t convert them into a big score. That’s where RCB lost the game.
Also Read:Â SRH vs RCB : Ishan Kishan’s Blazing 94 & Eshan Malinga’s Fiery Spell Hurts RCB