Williamson’s SRH beat Kohli’s RCB by four runs

Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Kane Williamson (left) and Wriddhiman Saha (centre) celebrate the wicket of Glenn Maxwell of Royal Challengers Bangalore during their IPL match at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi yesterday. (Sportzpics for IPL)

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) kept things tight with the ball and held their nerve as they beat Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by four runs in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 in Abu Dhabi yesterday. Needing 142 runs to win, RCB captain Virat Kohli set the ball rolling with a crisp four through the off-side. But Bhuvneshwar Kumar struck in the first over and helped SRH take the big wicket for Kohli. SRH scalped the second RCB wicket in the powerplay as Siddarth Kaul dismissed Dan Christian in the fourth over. RCB lost their third wicket in the chase in the seventh over as speedster Umran Malik scalped his maiden IPL wicket, getting KS Bharat caught behind the stumps. Glenn Maxwell joined Padikkal in the middle and announced his arrival in style, creaming a six off the second ball he faced. The right-hander then took on Rashid Khan in the tenth over, hitting the leg-spinner for a four and a six as RCB moved to 67/3 after 10 overs. Maxwell continued his merry ways while Padikkal batted with caution as the pair completed a vital fifty-run stand to push RCB past 90. SRH needed something special to break the partnership and Williamson did just that as his direct hit ended Maxwell’s 25-ball 40-run blitz. In the 17th over, Rashid had the better of Padikkal, who got out for 41.   While Shahbaz Ahmed hit a couple of overs, SRH managed to stay in the hunt, pushing RCB to score 13 runs in the final over.  Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled the final over and conceded just 8 runs as SRH sealed a fine win. Earlier, unchanged RCB elected to bowl against SRH, who retained the same playing XI. While Abhishek Sharma, who opened the innings alongside Jason Roy, played a few shots, he got out in the second over as George Garton gave RCB their first breakthrough.  Kane Williamson replaced Sharma in the middle and he and Roy kept the scorecard ticking and took the side to 50/1 at the end of the powerplay. The pair completed a vital 50-run stand in the ninth over.  Harshal Patel, the Purple Cap-holder, broke the Roy-Williamson stand as he dismissed the SRH skipper for 31 in the 12th over. While Priyam Garg and Roy took SRH past hundred, RCB scalped three wickets for two runs and reduced SRH to 107/5 from 105/2. Dan Christian started the SRH fall as he first dismissed Garg and then completed his double-wicket over, completing a stunning juggling return catch to get Roy out for 44. Yuzvendra Chahal joined the wicket-taking party as he trapped Abdul Samad before the wickets in the 16th over. While Wriddhiman Saha and Jason Holder scored 10 and 16 runs respectively, RCB went on to limit SRH to 141/7. “It’s been a really tough season but it was great to see these small improvements. The conditions are challenging and to see the fight and the heart in the second half was great to see,” said Williamson.Brief Scores: SRH 141/7 (J. Roy 44, K. Williamson 31; H. Patel 3/33) beat RCB 137/6 (D. Padikkal 41, G. Maxwell 40; U. Malik 1/21) by 4 runs.