Yuvraj Singh slammed his fastest IPL half-century as Sunrisers Hyderabad began their title defence with a thumping 35-run victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. The southpaw got to his fifty off 23 deliveries and finished with a 27-ball 62 to give the hosts their second successive 200-plus score (after last year’s final) – a target that proved to be too big for RCB’s injury-hit line-up. Afghanistan’s IPL debutant Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ashish Nehra combined to take six wickets between themselves as RCB folded for 172 despite a promising start, succumbing to a 35-run defeat – their first in their season opener since 2011.
Even as defending champions, there were doubts over SRH’s batting efficacy given their over-reliance on David Warner last season and the Australian skipper’s poor-run of form heading into the tournament. Warner endured a rare failure against RCB (he was on a run of seven consecutive 50+ scores against them) but Yuvraj, Moises Henriques and to a slightly lesser extent Shikhar Dhawan allayed the fears with a dominating batting performance on a helpful surface to prop the team to an intimidating 207 – one less than what they managed in last year’s final.
Dhawan, fresh on the back of an impressive Deodhar Trophy display, went to town on the opposition skipper Shane Watson, bludgeoning four boundaries off the former Australian all-rounder in a 17-run over that propelled the hosts to 59 for 1 in the powerplay. The opener couldn’t convert his brisk start into a bigger score, falling to the highly impressive Yuzvendra Chahal (1 for 22).
Yuvraj was in his elements almost as soon as he arrived to the crease at the fall of Dhawan’s wicket in the 11th over. Arvind was the unfortunate bowler against the flashing blade of Yuvraj, serving up ‘hit me’ short deliveries that were dispatched over cow corner with typical disdain. Yuvraj’s blitz, studded with seven fours and three sixes, eventually ended in the 19th over.
Between these two innings, Henriques played a quiet little 37-ball 52 while the finishing touches were applied by another Australian, Ben Cutting, who followed his 2016 finals heroics with a six-ball 16 that pushed SRH’s score past 200.
RCB got off to a sparkling start – scoring 54 in the powerplay but the two openers – Chris Gayle and Mandeep Singh – fell within six balls of each other, necessitating a rebuild. Travis Head and Kedar Jadhav put on a breezy half-century stand as RCB stayed abreast of the run-rate. Jadhav had motored along to 30 off 15 when he trudged back for a double only to be caught short by an accurate direct hit by Ben Cutting from fine-leg. With all the big-name absentees in the RCB middle-order, there was no coming back from there for the visitors.
Without AB de Villiers, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul, RCB were always under pressure chasing a big score. Much relied on their two other batting stars, Chris Gayle and Shane Watson. When Gayle departed after a strong start, and with Watson looking like a club player in the Australian’s mask, RCB’s case looked a lost one after the loss of their openers.
RCB did and did what teams did on 49 off the 60 games played last season – field first. David Warner didn’t mind one bit. The pitch was projected to stay true through the course of the game.
The biggest talking point at the toss was the inclusion of 18-year-old legspinner Rashid Khan – who became the first Afghanistan player to play an IPL game. Rashid for Mustafizur Rahman and Ashish Nehra for Barinder Sran were the only changes from last year’s final for the defending champions while RCB, reeling under a spate of injuries to key players, were forced into a making a plethora of changes. Tymal Mills, their latest big-money signing, made a last-minute entry in to the playing eleven at the expense of Samuel Badree.
Missed opportunities. For a team that starts the tournament well (they’d won each of their first games in the last six seasons), RCB were uncharacteristically flat on the field. The visitors handed reprieves to both Henriques and Yuvraj and each batsman went on to make match-defining half-centuries. Henriques was on 10 when Arvind picked the the wrong end to fire in his throw.
Arvind’s second indiscretion was possibly worse. After conceding 17 off the first five deliveries of his third over, debutant seamer Aniket Choudhary hurried Yuvraj into playing a pull shot. The top edge went straight into the hands of the fine-leg fielder, who found a way to let it through. Besides the two straightforward misses, there were numerous fumbles and players (Watson on two occasions) not committing to 50-50 catch chances that all conspired against RCB on a batting-friendly strip.
RCB will head home to the comforts of the Chinnaswamy Stadium, where they’ll take on another injury-hit side, Delhi Daredevils. AB de Villiers is expected to be fit for that game.
SRH, on the other hand, will stay back in Hyderabad, where they’ll welcome Gujarat Lions, a team they hold a 3-0 edge over.
Scores at a glance:
SRH 207/4 in 20 overs (Yuvraj 62, Moises Henriques 52, Yuzvendra Chahal 1-22) beat RCB 172-all out in 19.4 overs (Gayle 32, Jadhav 31, Bhuvneshwar 2-27, Rashid Khan 2-36) by 35 runs.
 - a target that proved to be too big for RCB's injury-hit line-up. Afghanistan's IPL debutant Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ashish Nehra combined to take six wickets between themselves as RCB folded for 172 despite a promising start, succumbing to a 35-run defeat - their first in their season opener since 2011.){kind=link}