RCB alive with a crucial win

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Skipper Kane Williamson's 81 off 42 balls and Manish Pandey's 62 off 38 balls went in vain as Royal Challengers Bangalore beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 14-runs in yet another run-feast contest at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore on Thursday(May 17). This game was supposed to be a battle between bat and ball but it turned around between RCB and SRH. With this win, RCB boosted their chances to qualify for the playoffs.

The AB de Villiers and Moeen Ali show



Chinnaswamy crowd were on their feet when AB de Villiers walkout to the park. After losing the wicket of Virat Kohli, de Villiers had a huge responsibility to take RCB to a safe total. He did not take too much time to kickstart his innings. He hit his first boundary to Shakib Al Hasan behind point before lofting one over extra cover. The innings kept getting better with AB settling into his groove, depositing the ball into gaps with ease.

It was such his class which makes him a different player. He shows his 360° skill in 13th over when he shuffle-across and sent the ball out of the stadium. He reached to his fifty off just 32 balls and looking unstoppable before Rashid Khan brought back for his final over. AB got out in trying to clear the fence and holed out to a well-judged catch by Shikhar Dhawan at deep squire leg boundary. AB scored 69 off 39 balls including 12 fours and a six. And also awarded Man Of The Match for his stunning knock.

On the other hand, Moeen Ali joined the party with AB and scored his maiden IPL fifty. He has batted various position so far but in this match, he was sent after the dismissal of skipper Virat Kohli. After playing a few balls carefully, he welcomed Basil Thampi with back to back sixes and followed with another one Rashid Khan over long off. In this process, he reached to his fifty off just 25 balls. He and AB de Villiers added 107-run for the third wicket. After scoring 65 off 35 balls including 2 fours and y sixes, he got out to Rashid Khan.



The Grandhomme finish

After the dismissal of AB and Ali, RCB needed someone to carry the momentum which was given by the duo. Colin De Grandhomme took that responsibility and hammered 40 off 17 balls including 4 sixes and a four. Sarfaraz Khan also joined the party and blasted 22* off 8 balls including 3 fours and a six. The duo put 34 off 13 balls and lifted RCB to a massive total of 218 for 6 after 20 overs.

SRH had to fire and they did



To chase down 219, SRH needed their openers to fire. And they did the same by putting 47-run stand for the first wicket before Dhawan hot caught and bowled by Yuzvendra Chahal. He scored 18 off 15 balls with the help of two sixes. Alex Hales and Williamson carried the momentum but AB de Villiers took a stunner to dismissed Alex Hales. He made 37 off 24 balls including 2 fours 3 sixes.

Williamson strikes again along with Pandey

After losing two wickets on 64, SRH skipper Williamson and Manish Pandey kept their team in the game till the last over. Williamson, who is leading run-getter for his team, again lead from the front and took his team almost through the line. On the other hand, Manish Pandey who hasn't been good form before this match, find his lost touch. He started slowly but once he set he took RCB to all around the park. He got his third fifty of this IPL off 30 balls while Williamson reached to his 8th fifty in this season off 28 balls.

The duo put on a 153-run stand for the third wicket. But it was not proved enough as they fell short by 14-runs. It was also Tim Southee and Mohammad Siraj, who executed their yorkers well in the end and made it difficult for them to score runs.

Rashid's magic spell and a night to forget for Thampi

In a game where didn't want to bowl, Rashid Khan, nipped out the wicket of Kohli, de Villiers and Moeen Ali in his magic spell. He conceded only 27 runs in his four-over spell. He took also a one-handed stunner to dismissed De Grandhomme. While Rashid was the most economical bowler, Basil Thampi had the worst night with the ball. He conceded 19, 18, 14, 19 in his four overs respectively. He replaced Bhuvneshawar Kumar in the side but misfired horribly to concede 70 runs off his 4 overs and became the most expensive bowler in the history of the IPL.

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