RCB has won the first match at Kolkata while Sunrisers have lost the first match at Chennai on the same day. But Sunrisers appeared more confident today as the loss of home team continued. This was the 4th consecutive loss for a home team in IPL 2015. Sunrisers Hyderabad decimated first the strong batting line up of Royal Challengers and then chased the target of 167 with 16 balls remaining. After Bailey, another Captain received MOM as Warner silenced the weak RCB attack with a quick half-century.
Indian Premier League 2015: Schedule and Results
RCB Bowled Out at First Home Match
In the previous seasons, RCB has made their home a fortress. IPL 2015 appeared different as they lost their first match at home without much fight. Being sent to bat first, Gayle was the first one to go as score reached 43/1 in 5.3 overs. He could add only 21 runs in 16 balls with a six and 3 4s as Praveen Kumar made an impressive start. Dinesh Karthik failed again scoring only 9 runs. Captain Kohli fought with 37-ball 41 runs hitting 2 6s and 4 4s taking the score to 93/3 in 12th over but next ball saw Bopara sending Mandeep Singh also back on duck. After that it was just the 28-ball 46 runs by AB de Villiers with 2 6s and 5 4s that could help RCB get the decent total of 166 as Sammy (6), Sean Abbott (14), Harsha Patel (2), Ahmed (4) and Varun Aaron (6) struggled against the disciplined bowling.
Boult got hit initially but in the 19th over grabbed three wickets to have the best figure of the match at 3/43. Karn Sharma produced the magical 20s, that two players produced yesterday. He had 1/20 in 4 overs. B Kumar (2/30 in 3.5), Praveen Kumar (1/34 in 4) were impressive. Bopara (2/31 in 3) and Ashish Reddy (1/11 in 1) faced the brunt of RCB hits.
SRH Chase Mercilessly and Clinically
Realising that RCB attack was not strong and after first defeat they needed to win with good run rate, Warner and Dhawan attacked from the first over. They maintained a run rate of 10+ per over till in 8th over Warner (27-ball 57 runs) fell to Chahal. They added 82 runs for opening partnership. Williamson (5) was stumped in the next over of Chahal as SRH reached 95/2 in 10 overs.
After that in the company of Karnataka lad KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan played clinically without taking much risk. Dhawan (42-ball 50 with 2 6s and 4 4s) and KL Rahul (28-ball 44 runs with the winning sixer and 4 4s) added unbeaten 78 runs and took SRH home by 8 wickets with 16 balls remaining.
For RCB, Chahal with 2/28 in 4 was the most economic and only successful bowler. Sean Abbott (0/21 in 2), Harsha (0/23 in 2), Aaron (0/36 in 3.2), Ahmed (0/41 in 4) and Sammy (0/18 in 2) were taken to cleaners as none could stop the run flow.
With this win, Sunrisers jump ahead of RCB to 5th position. After 2 matches played by each teams now, 2 teams have won both matches while 2 have won none.
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