Mumbai: Sunrisers Hyderabad bowlers ripped through Royal Challengers Bangalore to help SRH register a comfortable nine-wicket win in the 2022 IPL match here at Brabourne stadium on Saturday.
RCB had an unusual outing as they folded for just 68, thanks to Marco Jansen (3/25) and T Natarajan (3/10).
The chase was a walk in the park for SRH. Abhishek Sharma took the charge, while Kane Williamson (16 not out) played the role of second fiddle. The Indian smashed eight boundaries and one maximum before Harshal Patel denied him a fifty.
Abhishek, on 47, tried to go big and finish off the match all at once but ended up giving a catch at long-on. Rahul Tripathi (7 not out) fulfilled Abhishek's wish and hit six for the winning runs in the eighth over.
Earlier in the day, South African speedster Jansen setup the match for SRH as he claimed the big wickets of RCB captain Faf du Plessis, Virat Kohli and Anuj Rawat in the second over of the match.
Jansen flattened the off-stump of his compatriot du Plessis cheaply for five. Former RCB skipper Kohli's batting woes continued as the right-hander was dismissed for a golden duck.
Although Glenn Maxwell denied Jansen a hat-trick, the seamer got Rawat for a nought to take three wickets in an over.
RCB, who were staggering at 8/3, could manage to add only 12 runs before losing their fourth wicket. SRH skipper Williamson took a terrific catch at mid-off to remove Maxwell (12) off the bowling of Natarajan.
Jagadeesha Suchith then struck twice in the ninth over to further cause problems for RCB.
Suyash Prabhudessai was stumped for 15, the highest individual score by RCB lineup, and wicketkeeper Nicholas Pooran took a sharp catch to dismiss Dinesh Karthik, who was looking to sweep.
The on-field umpire signalled wide, but Pooran and Suchith convinced their skipper for a caught behind referral. On replay there was a clear spike as the ball passed the glove, forcing Karthik to walk back without scoring.
It was raining wickets as Umran Malik also joined the party before Natarajan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar cleaned up the tailenders.
For SRH besides Natarajan and Jansen, Suchith bagged two, and Bhuvneshwar and Umran got apiece. (UNI)
