In a repeat clash of last year’s final, defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad produced a similar result as they edged past Royal Challengers Bangalore by 35 runs on the back of a vintage knock by all-rounder Yuvraj Singh.
The Southpaw smashed a 27-ball 62 as the defending champs posted 207/4 before dismissing RCB for 172 as Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan, who was playing his first ever game in the IPL scalped two crucial breakthroughs.
Henriques-Dhawan steady ship after Warner’s early exit
Left-arm pacer Aniket Choudhary entered the tenth edition of the Indian Premier League with a penchant for being quick. India’s Test team even got him to bowl in the nets ahead of their Test series against Australia. The idea was for India’s batsmen to get used to playing against the Australian pacers.
So when he was picked in the playing XI of the Royal Challengers Bangalore, it was only natural for most to train their attention towards debutant.
And Choudhary delivered. He dismissing Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper David Warner for just 14 as Sunrisers slumped to 19/1.
The situation did not bode well for Warner’s opening partner, Shikhar Dhawan. Ahead of the game, Dhawan had made it clear that he would treat the IPL as a comeback vehicle. The pressure was on the opening batsman and Warner’s early exit did not help matters.
Dhawan batted gingerly and looked unsettled after the skipper departed. But, he one Australian was replaced by another. Moises Henriques eased Dhawan’s load by keeping the scoreboard ticking at the other end. Scoring at almost run-a-ball in the short time that he was in the middle, once he got settled in, the Australian went for the bigger shots, which put the Royal Challengers Bangalore’s bowlers into pressure.
Henriques taking charge of the momentum also eased Dhawan, who also started firing with gusto. The Sunrisers reached 50 runs in 5.2 overs, and posted 88 runs at the halfway mark. However, Stuart Binny provided a breakthrough for RCB in the 11th over, by picking Shikhar Dhawan’s wicket, ending the 64-run second wicket stand between him and Henriques.
Looking to hoist one over long-on, Dhawan miscued his shot and was caught by Sachin Baby for 40 runs, off 31 balls in 10.3 overs. Despite the loss of Dhawan’s wicket though, the Sunrisers still retained control of the innings, with Yuvraj Singh joining in on the attack.
Henriques became the first player to score a half-century in this year’s IPL, reaching the score with a six off Sreenath Aravind in the penultimate ball of the 15th over. His heroics were, however, cut short in the second ball of the 16th over, by Yuzvendra Chahal, with Baby taking his second catch in the match, this time at long-off. Henriques went on to score 52 runs at a strike rate of 140.54 that included two sixes and three fours.
Vintage Yuvraj
After the foundation set by Henriques and Dhawan, it was Yuvraj Singh, who came in and laid into the RCB bowling attack that failed to make struggled to find the right length on a wicket that offered literally nothing in help for the bowlers. Yuvraj smashed seven boundaries and three sixes as he produced one his vintage knocks on Wednesday with a remarkable knock of 62 in just 27 deliveries.
It was a lethal performance that left the RCB bowlers clueless. Shoddy fielding didn’t help matters either. Sreenath Aravind dropped Yuvraj on 27. The India stalwart made RCB pay for the miss, dominating the opposition, who had fielded three pacers to combat Sunrisers’ left-hand stars Yuvraj, Warner and Dhawan.
The 35-year-old, who only recently made a comeback into India’s limited-overs’ side, was brimming in confidence. He toyed with the bowlers, finding boundaries effortlessly. He was well supported by Henriques, who after sharing a 74-run stand with Dhawan, added another 58 with Yuvraj.
A few more performances like this and Yuvraj would have sealed his place in India’s Champions Trophy squad long before the selectors even meet to discuss the probables.
Rashid Khan’s sparkling debut
A bit history was created during the opening encounter of the IPL on Wednesday as Sunrisers’ Rashid Khan became the first player from Afghanistan to play a game in the franchise-based league. And he made sure it was a memorable one, with a crucial contribution that gave Sunrisers a breakthrough that knocked the wind out of RCB’s chase.
Openers Chris Gayle and Mandeep Singh were picking apart the pacers early on. In their first spell of two overs each, Ashish Nehra conceded 27 runs, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar gave away 16 runs. The Gayle-Singh juggernaut looked to run unabated as the duo posted 50 runs in 5.2 overs.
It wasn’t, however, until the sixth over as Rashid was brought into the attack. Bowling his first ever over in the IPL, he struck gold.
Eighteen-year-old Khan had a debut to remember. He sent Mandeep Singh back into the dugout with the fourth ball of the sixth over.
Trying to give himself room at the crease to attempt to play on the backfoot, Singh was beaten by Khan’s delivery, getting an inside edge that connected with the leg-stump, before rattling the bails off. Singh had gone on to score a quickfire 24 runs off 16 balls, of which 20 runs came in boundaries alone.
Khan picked his second wicket when he was re-introduced into the bowling attack in the 13th over of the innings in what was his third over. Southpaw Travis Head, who had belted Khan for a four in the fourth ball of the over, failed to read the ball and lofted the ball straight into Yuvraj Singh’s hands at long-on. Head scored 30 runs in 22 balls that included three fours, with the team total stranded at 126/4.
Khan finished his four-over spell with 2/36. In terms of runs conceded, he was indeed one of the costliest bowlers on the day, but his fine bowling left the batsmen bemused which, in the end, justified his costly purchase in the IPL Player Auction.
Cutting’s incredible run out
Over the past nine seasons, the IPL has thrown some brilliant fielding moments. Be it incredible catches at the boundary line or dives that seemed impossible before one even went and viewed a replay. It was apt that the opening game of the landmark season, would also throw up one such instance.
It happened in the 12th over as Kedar Jadhav and Head had pieced together a 56-run partnership for the third wicket. Cutting managed to get a direct hit from long leg. He swooped down onto the ball and sent in a throw that would have left even a baseball pitcher impressed. Jadhav was miles short of his ground. At 111/3, the wicket effectively killed hopes of a dramatic chase from RCB, who are missing a chunk of their first team batsmen through injury.
Brief scores
- Sunrisers Hyderabad 207/4 (Shikhar Shawan 40, Moses Henriques 52, Yuvraj Singh 62) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore 172 (Chris Gayle 32, Travis Head 30, Kedar Jadhav 31; Rashid Khan 2/36) by 35 runs.
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