RCB faces SRH on Tuesday, May 20 in an Indian Premier League match.
UPDATE: The Sunrisers upset the Royal Challengers, winning by seven wickets.
Here’s a recap from the IPL website:
“Thanks to a seven-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bangalore, Sunrisers Hyderabad picked up all-important two points that will come in handy as the mid-table race for the Pepsi IPL 2014 Playoffs heats up. Thanks to half-centuries by their openers – Shikhar Dhawan and David Warner – SRH achieved the 161-run target with two overs to spare. Even their bowlers – led by Bhuvneshwar Kumar – did well to restrict the strong RCB line-up to 160 for six.
“Earlier, Virat Kohli won the toss and opted to bat first in Hyderabad. Bhuvneshwar Kumar then struck in the first over by trapping Parthiv Patel (4) leg-before. The SRH bowlers then pumped the breaks on the scoring-rate despite Chris Gayle and Kohli joining forces. In fact, Karn Sharma ended Gayle’s (14) 20-ball stay at the crease in the sixth over. And by the end of the powerplay, RCB had posted a pedestrian 25 for two.
“And while Yuvraj Singh came in to bat with his skipper, the duo could not speed up the scoring rate right away. But they did accelerate once the team fifty came up in the 11th over; first, Yuvraj played a key role in plundering 12 off a Parvez Rasool over, and then, Kohli scored 19 in the next over, which was bowled by Karn Sharma. However, soon thereafter, Yuvraj holed out to Dale Steyn in the deep, off the bowling of Rasool, leaving RCB on 80 for three in 12.2 overs.
“AB de Villiers then took guard opposite Kohli, and the pair soon brought up the RCB hundred in the 15th over. Meanwhile, Kohli also brought up his half-century, before he and his batting partner took Darren Sammy for 19 runs off his next over. However, Kohli’s (67) innings came to an end in the 18th over, when he handed Steyn a catch off Irfan Pathan. de Villiers (29) was soon cleaned up by Bhuvneshwar, leaving RCB on 146 for five in 18.1 overs. Sachin Rana (12*) and Mitchell Starc (6) then took the SRH total to 160, until the latter was run-out off the last ball of the innings.
“SRH’s response started on a high note with Shikhar Dhawan taking charge of proceedings along with David Warner. They went after the RCB bowlers and brought up the SRH fifty in the sixth over itself, scoring a total of 51 runs in the powerplay. By the halfway stage, the first-wicket pair added 72 runs. Warner then struck three maximums during the span of the next two overs to put SRH in the driver’s seat. Dhawan (50) then reached his fifty in the 13th over – his first half-century of the season. However, the southpaw was run-out shortly after that, leaving SRH on 100 for one in 12.3 overs.
“Naman Ojha then paired up with Warner, who brought up his half-century in the 15th over. Even Ojha went after the opposition bowlers by striking a maximum early in his innings. He added 26 runs with Warner (59), who was finally dismissed by Varun Aaron in the 17th over. Aaron Finch was the next man in for SRH with the run-chase equation reading 35 runs off 23 balls. Both Ojha and Finch (11*) kept the scorecard ticking, but were unable to launch much-needed big hits during the next couple of overs.
“With two overs to go, SRH still needed 20 runs to scale the 161-run target. Ojha (24) then struck Aaron for a six, after the bowler conceded a couple of singles off the first two deliveries of the 19th over. And while the RCB pacer claimed his wicket off the next ball, Sammy – who walked in at No.5 – struck a first-ball six, followed by a single, to tilt the match in his team’s favour. With four runs required off the final over, Starc conceded a single off the first ball, and followed it up with a dot. But after the next delivery went for a single, Sammy (10*) took his team over the line – with two balls to spare – thanks to a double.
“Both teams now have 10 points from 12 games and are currently separated only by their net run-rate on the points table, where RCB occupy the fifth and SRH the sixth spot.”
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The teams will play at the Rajiv Gandhi Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad.
Start time is slated for 4 p.m. IST (10:30 a.m. GMT).
The match will be broadcast on Set Max and Sony Six in India, OSN in the Middle East, and GeoSuper in Pakistan.
It will also be broadcast on Maasaranga TV in Bangladesh, CSN in Sri Lanka, SuperSport in Africa, StarHub in Singapore, PCCW in Hong Kong, Astro in Malaysia, EMTV in Papua New Guinea, Sky NZ in New Zealand, ITV in the United Kingdom, Sportsnet in Canada, and Willow TV in the United States.
Live streaming will be available through Go Cricket, Star Sports, and nexGTV in India; OSN in the Middle East; TBC in Pakistan; Willow TV in the U.S.; Rogers in Canada; and Go Cricket internationally.
A defeat in this match will mean the Sunrisers will be eliminated from playoffs contention. The Royal Challengers, meanwhile, are in fifth place in the league standings, and could definitely use a win.
After this match, RCB faces KKR on Thursday, May 22 at 4 p.m. IST in Kolkata. SRH faces CSK on the same day at 8 p.m. IST in Ranchi.
See a preview from the IPL website below and squads below that.
“These are crucial times for both Sunrisers Hyderabad and Royal Challengers Bangalore. It is, therefore, important that the big-ticket players stand up and take responsibility.
“SRH will look towards the big three – Shikhar Dhawan, Aaron Finch and David Warner – to deliver the big blows with the bat and hope that Dale Steyn can lift himself and deliver some telling blows.
“RCB will need Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli to spend some time in the middle. Both these batsmen are capable of demolishing bowling attacks in a matter of minutes. But given their poor run of form, it is important that they settle down first, get their timing right and then play their shots. In AB de Villiers, they have perhaps one of the best batsmen in the world; the South African is on top of his game when he bats in the death overs. It is important that Gayle, Kohli and the rest of the top order gives de Villiers the platform from which he can launch.”
RCB
Virat Kohli (C), AB de Villiers (W), Chris Gayle, Yuvraj Singh, Mitchell Starc, Nic Maddinson, Albie Morkel, Varun Aaron, Ashok Dinda, Parthiv Patel, Muttiah Muralitharan, Ravi Rampaul, Harshal Patel, Vijay Zol, Abu Nechim, Sachin Rana, Shadab Jakati, Sandeep Warrier, Tanmay Mishra, Yogesh Takawale, Yuzvendra Chahal, Rilee Rossouw
SRH
Darren Sammy (C), Shikhar Dhawan, Dale Steyn, David Warner, Amit Mishra, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Aaron Finch, Ishant Sharma, Irfan Pathan, Moises Henriques, Lokesh Rahul, Parveez Rasool, Jason Holder, Venugopal Rao, Naman Ojha, Brendan Taylor (W), Prasanth Parameswaran, Amit Paunikar, Ashish Reddy, Srikkanth Anirudha, Ricky Bhui, Chama Milind, Manpreet Juneja, Karan Sharma
