Bhuvneshwar Kumar: Eighteen runs with 12 balls were required. But the Royal Challengers Bangalore lost by four races. You could call it poetic justice for Sunrisers Hyderabad after getting caught last on the scoreboard in one of their worst seasons.
But that should bring some joy. And a justification for the fact that despite all the racket disorientation concerns, your bowling is still holding up well.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar has yet to lose touch, keeping his nerves against AB de Villiers and defending the last 12+ runs. Three low complete shots on the last four balls did the trick. The only time he missed the length and threw completely.
HIGHLIGHTS: SRH BEAT RCB
Bhuvneshwar Kumar: De Villiers picked him up for a pair of six. But that was just a six-ball error, enough to cause defeat despite Devdutt Padikkal’s vigilant tackles that had put RCB in a winning position.
Padikkal was a revelation. Swoon over Virat Kohli’s faceplates or De Villiers 360-degree lashes, but let’s face it, nothing comes close to the visual tidbit that left-handed beating can deliver.
However, Padikkal put this theory to the test. He can be a quiet customer, as evidenced by the time in the limit that he stroked Kumar on the third pass, causing Mid-off to stand and watch. But this was not a walk in the park. Against a bowling-inspired performance on a two-level course.
Padikkal scored and hit a lead, and missed most of his 52-ball period. Scratchy? Yes sir. But he almost did his job.
Think for a moment about what you were dealing with. Kumar, numbered 4-025-1, was discipline personified after showing Kohli the way back in the first race of the RCB chase.
Siddarth Kaul was malicious and skilled, sneaking into the split-finger, off-cutter, and knuckleball variations as he hit 130km / h.
Jason Holder relentlessly attacked the stumps as Umran Malik continued to impress with his variations in length. Aside from Rashid Khan, the other four Sunrisers bowlers saved 6.75 and less. That’s what RCB has.
However, the damage was done early. Kohli plays on the other side of the line and misses an incoming delivery before decisions cannot be clearer. And then there was that one-handed truck and the direct hit from Kane Williamson.
Who sent Glenn Maxwell when he was handsome to cover the distance. Again, this was Padikkal’s mistake, ending Rashid’s single when Williamson took cover. But while Padikkal stayed, RCB kept running.
FINE START
Bhuvneshwar Kumar: Sunrisers Hyderabad followed a similar path in the early innings. There was a glimmer of hope when a 70-race partnership between Jason Roy and Kane Williamson brought them to 84/1.
Nearly 90 in round 12 and just two wickets less, the Sunrisers were in such a good position in the UAE round of this IPL. But they imploded almost immediately, losing three wickets into seven-ball space since the start of the 15th.
RCB quickly seized the momentum and got Harshal Patel and Dan Christian to slow down the races and force more errors. The key to his fate, which got worse, was a catch, a brilliant catch, and a bowl.
Christian was humble. Roy’s wicket literally slowed the Sunrisers‘ innings. What unfolded was an all-too-familiar story of the early-morning middle and lower-middle class, who lived up to their reputation for pulling down their windows.
Priyam Garg, Wriddhiman Saha, and Jason Holder were each fired after breaking the 10 mark. There were no efforts to consolidate and build a partnership, only martial but unsuccessful attempts to cross the 81-meter limit of Abu Dhabi.
Between Christian, Harshal Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Mohammed Siraj, RCB conceded just 36 runs in the last six overs.
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