A brilliant bowling performance from Sunrisers Hyderabad saw Royals Challengers Bangalore labouring to 131/7 in 20 overs in the IPL 2020 Eliminator in Abu Dhabi.
Jason Holder (3/25) and T. Natarajan (2/33) broke RCB's back with clever mix of pace and pinpoint yorkers, while Shahbaz Nadeem chipped in with one wicket. The fact that all bowlers, except Natarajan, went for under eight runs an over is a testimony to the discipline with which the SRH bowlers bowled.
For RCB, AB de Villiers, once again, waged a lone battle, scoring 56 runs, with five fours. Aaron Finch, who replaced Josh Philippe in the playing XI, was the other notable scorer, with 32 runs. The two shared a 41-run stand for the third wicket.
After being put into bat, RCB had a disappointing start, with skipper Virat Kohli, who opened with Devdutt Padikkal, gloving a ball from Holder down the leg-side for six. Padikkal (1), too, was snared by Holder while going for a hoick toward midwicket.
Finch, who came in at number 3, showed better intent, but twin blows in the 11th over put paid to RCB's effort.
First, Finch departed, caught by Abdul Samad off Shahbaz Nadeem (1/30) and then a ball later, Moeen Ali was caught short off the crease by a direct hit from Rashid Khan.
Shivam Dube (8) didn't help his side's cause, so was Washington Sundar (5).
In between, De Villiers brought up his 50 off 39 balls with a boundary off Holder, but he was soon sent packing by a gem of an yorker from Natarajan as RCB lost their last hope.
