IPL 2018: Match 39, SRH vs RCB - Who Said What

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) bowlers have done it again. They have just made it a habit to clinch the victories by posting low totals. The game was in the grasp of the visitors after the best bowler Rashid Khan was hit for a couple of sixes. But Siddarth Kaul and Bhuvneshwar Kumar didn’t give up and defended the total bravely. Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) lost it rather despite being comfortable in the chase at the halfway mark. However, their playoff chances have almost gone now as they will have to depend on other results as well.

After being invited to bat first, SRH got off to a worst possible as they lost the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Alex Hales and Manish Pandey cheaply. Their skipper Kane Williamson then stood up to the task as usual and resurrected the innings along with Shakib Al Hasan in the middle overs. He waited for the right time to accelerate the run-scoring and also brought up his fifth half-century of the season. However, his wicket proved to be huge in the death overs as the hosts collapsed once again.

Tim Southee and Mohammed Siraj bowled extremely well and kept on picking the wickets which never allowed SRH to get away with the game. They were 112/3 at one stage and went on to lose all their remaining wickets until the end of the innings. The chase began well for the visitors with Parthiv Patel playing his shots fearlessly thanks to his wrist work, but Shakib trapped him in front even as Manan Vohra followed him soon. Virat Kohli looked good during his 39-run stay in the middle but Yusuf Pathan‘s brilliance in the field sent him back.

Rashid Khan sensationally castled AB de Villiers to break the game wide open. Soon they were ahead after Moeen Ali was scalped by Siddarth Kaul. But the duo of Colin de Grandhomme and Mandeep Singh took the game deep as the former attacked the likes of Rashid in the 18th over after which one felt that the game was finished. But Kaul and Bhuneshwar Kumar had other ideas as they bowled beautifully and didn’t concede a single boundary in the last 15 deliveries.

Man of the Match and Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper, Kane Williamson said:

We’re playing on some tough surfaces. We were aiming for 150, and we weren’t far away. Our fielding was probably a bit sloppy. Could have operated better.

At the same time, good to come away with the win. Some experienced campaigners stepping up at the right time. That last over comes to mind. Bhuvi was world class.

They’ve both done it (Bhuvi and Kaul) extremely well for a long time. It’s best we can be trying to adapt to the surfaces. We’re seeing off-paced deliveries used and then yorkers to break things up. It’s having to adapt and doing it as quickly as we can. It was definitely hard work out there.

It was a tough surface to get momentum. We had a number of key partnerships to get us a competitive total. I suppose on these surfaces, that’s what’s important is to get a competitive total.

That’s what you need. At the moment it’s tough going, but as a team, we’re getting enough and our bowling unit has been outstanding. Obviously, it wasn’t our best fielding performance.

Guys held their nerves at key moments which went a long way in us scraping across the line. Bat and ball, there are things we certainly want to touch on moving forward as a team.

Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper, Virat Kohli said:

It was a (tough defeat) but that is how the game goes. We deserve to lose this game. We were not good enough on the day. 60-odd runs in the first six overs and then we ended up like that.

I don’t think we showed enough application. The kind of shots we played, they were not on at that stage. I think we threw it away. I think we let the opposition get back in the game.

That has been the story of the season so far. The fielding was up to the mark but I think 10-15 runs less would have been ideal for us. This was a tough wicket (to bat). We should have done a better job with the ball but in the field, we were up to the mark.

If you have strong characters in the team you can always do well in such a tournament. Sunrisers have quite a few guys in the team – that has been the story of their season. They understand their team and that’s why they have been so successful.

They understand their strengths, know their limitations. That’s been their story and this has been ours. As an all-round team, Chennai and Punjab are good. As a bowling team, Sunrisers are the strongest team.

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