Sunrisers Hyderabad were beaten by Royal Challengers Bangalore by 10 runs in the opening fixture of the respective teams in Dubai on Monday, September 21. In a dramatic batting collapse for the Sunrisers, they lost seven wickets for just 32 runs in the final five overs of their innings.
RCB’s bowlers, on the other hand, put off a good show and started their campaign by defending their score, which is a rare sight.
Here are the 5 takeaways from the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) vs Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) contest:
1) Devdutt Padikkal’s Impressive 50 on IPL Debut
Devdutt Padikkal became the first Indian batsman to score A 50 in IPL debut for RCB against SRH. His half-century helped RCB get a good start to their innings which was then finished off well by AB De Villiers. He replaced seasoned campaigner Parthiv Patel at the top of the order and formed a good partnership with Aaron Finch.
Throughout his innings, he was the aggressor and Finch played second fiddle to the left-hander. His innings sits at the top of out 5 Takeaways from the contest.
Also Read: Devdutt Padikkal First Indian To Score Fifty On IPL Debut In 10 Years
2) AB De Villiers Showing Form from First Game
Though RCB skipper was out cheaply in his first IPL 2020 outing, AB De Villiers scored a 30 ball 51 to get his campaign started. In the lookout to fulfil the dream of winning an IPL title for RCB, De Villiers seemed determined to play the anchor role after Kohli’s dismissal.
He hit six boundaries in his innings which looked flawless till the time he was run-out by Manish Pandey’s gun throw from sweeper cover. ABD’s good form is an important takeaway for RCB going forward in the tournament.
3) Yuvendra Chahal’s Double Strike Over Derails SRH Chase
It was Yuzvendra Chahal’s economical spell turned the game around for the 2016 finalists. He gave just 18 runs in his four overs taking the key wickets of Jonny Bairstow, Vijay Shankar and Manish Pandey. The leg-spinner thus exposed the inexperienced SRH middle-order and it turned out to be quite a battle between them and Chahal bowling from one end.
The RCB spinner foxed Bairstow and Shankar with his googly, while Pandey chose a wrong delivery to go for a big shot only to be caught by Navdeep Saini on the boundary line. Chahal’s spell is another of the 5 takeaways from this contest.
4) Pinpoint Death Bowling by RCB- Most Important Among 5 Takeaways
Navdeep Saini cleaned up the SRH tail with immaculate precision and eye for hitting the wickets. He came back in the 17th over and dismissed Rashid Khan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the same over, to take the sting out of the SRH chase. This happened after Chahal broke through the Sunrisers’ middle-order.
Saini led the pacers against David Warner’s men and his pinpoint death bowling is what will make the RCB management happy. However, the bigger need is to maintain the form and the momentum that RCB has gained through this big win in the upcoming matches. His spell is one among the 5 takeaways of the contest.
5) SRH’s Over-Reliance on David Warner – Jonny Bairstow
The Warner-Bairstow pair scored more than 70 percent of SRH’s run’s last year and the overdependence of the team on this pair was visible right from the first game. Warner was dismissed in a rather unfortunate manner, while Bairstow threw his wicket away when he looked set to take his team home. Manish Pandey, scored 33 off 34 balls and looked set as well before he too lost his patience.
They need Pandey to play with more responsibility in the middle-order. With Mitchell Marsh injured there becomes a case for Sunrisers to included Kane Williamson which will surely boost their batting lineup. Their bowlers did a good job to pull things back in the death overs. It is expected that they will be consistent in the upcoming matches.
Also Read: IPL 2020, Game 3 SRH vs RCB Match Report
The inclusion of Kane Williamson will be a subject of debate before SRH play their next game. Also, what they do to take off the load from Warner and Bairstow’s shoulders will be interesting to watch.
These are the 5 takeaways from Match 3 of IPL 2020 between RCB vs SRH.