IPL 2020, Match 3 – Sunrisers Hyderabad v Royal Challengers Bangalore – Inexplicable SRH batting collapse hands RCB 10-run win
A pile of Jenga blocks placed over one another would have done a better job in not collapsing as easily as the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) middle-order did today against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), despite being well on course of a target of 164 to register their first win in this year’s IPL. To their credit, RCB did very well under pressure to fight their way back in the last 10 overs of the game, mainly thanks to a game-changing last over from Yuzvendra Chahal and a great display of death bowling from Navdeep Saini.
Put in to bat, RCB got off to a flying start, thanks to a flurry of cleanly hit boundaries from local boy Devdutt Padikkal. All that the Australian limited-overs captain and Padikkal’s opening partner Aaron Finch needed to do was play second fiddle to him and give the young left-hander enough support for him to play his natural game.
Once RCB lost Padikkal after he had completed his maiden IPL fifty, and then his opening partner Finch next ball, the run rate slowly started to pipe down as Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers took time to settle in, keeping the scoreboard ticking with a delightful display of running between the wickets.
ALSO READ: IPL 2020: SRH vs RCB Game Plan 3- The Rashid Khan threat
Kohli seemed like he was about to switch gears with 4 overs left to the innings when he holed out to Rashid Khan at deep mid-wicket to Natarajan, who was successful in executing his plan of bowling the off-cutter and luring the RCB skipper in hitting towards the longer mid-wicket boundary. De Villiers succeeded in accelerating towards the end, bringing up a well-deserved half-century before being run out in the last over attempting an improbable second, as RCB posted a total of 163.
AB de Villiers was named Player of The Match for his pivotal, match-winning knock of 51 off 30 deliveries that helped RCB get to 163
Despite losing their skipper, David Warner in the most unfortunate manner, run out while backing up at the non-striker’s end, SRH were off to the ideal start, keeping the required run rate under check. RCB’s failure to grab onto three chances offered by Jonny Bairstow, the third one being a half chance, made it look like it was the Bradford-born wicketkeeper batsman’s day today.
And then it all started to unravel. Manish Pandey, who had been giving good support to Bairstow throughout, impulsively tried to hit Chahal out of the park and holed out to long-off. Chahal’s last over contained two wickets, one of which was of the rampant Jonny Bairstow, who was guilty of playing a rash shot as well. SRH then began to lose wickets almost every third ball, and even the brave effort from Mitchell Marsh to walk out to bat with an injured right leg did not pay off. From a 121/2, SRH collapsed to 153 all out, and RCB were the ones who started off their 2020 IPL campaign with a victory.
ALSO READ: IPL 2020: SRH vs RCB Game Plan 2- SRH’s vulnerable middle-order and the Chahal threat
SRH v RCB – How on earth did SRH lose that?
Below are the three main reasons that can be attributed to Sunrisers Hyderabad’s loss today:
1) Playing Mitchell Marsh ahead of Mohammad Nabi
The unfortunate sight of Mitchell Marsh running into bowl and pulling-up midway through his run-up has become so frequent that it looks sadistically hilarious nowadays. It seemed like the Sunrisers wanted to have a middle-order batsman who could chip in with a couple of vital overs with the ball. Mohammad Nabi, who has been performing that role throughout his playing career in T20 Cricket, would have been the ideal choice for the men in orange, ahead of Marsh. His ability to bowl wicket-to-wicket and perform with the ball at any stage of the innings would have done the Sunrisers a world of good. With the bat, his experience would have come in extremely handy during the run-chase, something that SRH desperately required today.
2) Not using Rashid Khan in the powerplay
Devdutt Padikkal’s onslaught during the first 6 overs of the RCB innings was a treat to watch. The main reason why he got off to such a good start was that he had enough pace on the ball to work with. David Warner, the Sunrisers skipper, missed a trick by not bringing Rashid Khan on during the powerplay. His variations, trajectory, and line and length have been difficult to dispatch for batsmen of the highest calibre and at any stage of the innings. Add to that, the success he has received over the years bowling in the powerplay in T20 Cricket would have been another reason to utilize his services.
3) “Monster collapse for the Sunrisers”
These 4 words, uttered by Kevin Pietersen in the commentary box after Rashid Khan’s dismissal, comprehensively cleaned up by Navdeep Saini, summed up the events that had transpired over the previous 6 overs. Over-ambitiousness, lack of application and game awareness were extravagantly on display from the SRH batting line-up. Sunrisers were cruising towards the target of 164 set by the RCB, requiring 75 from the last 8 overs. All the SRH batsmen needed to do was play out the wily Yuzvendra Chahal, who has made an envious T20 career out of batsmen trying to hit him out of the park and failing miserably, thanks to his variations, line and length, and skill of giving the ball a lot more air than the other leg-break bowlers. Manish Pandey refrained from doing so, and so did Jonny Bairstow, despite being well set to guide SRH home. Lack of application from Vijay Shankar and the youngster, Priyam Garg, accounted for the wickets of both of them, and the wheels started to fall off for SRH when Abhishek Sharma was run out after a mid-pitch collision with Rashid Khan that left the latter floored.