IPL 10, Match 1, SRH v RCB Review: Yuvraj plays a match winning knock as SRH overhaul RCB in opening clash

It was a rematch of the 2016 IPL final in the opener of IPL 10 which again saw the defending champions overhaul the runners up in a competitive match at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. It was entertainment on offer for the spectators of Hyderabad and they were treated to some exceptional stroke play by the home team.

Just like last year’s final, Hyderabad posted a total over 200 but unlike the previous occasion, Bangalore fell well short of the eventual target. It was Yuvraj Singh’s whirlwind innings which propelled the visitors to a huge total where they could have taken the shots in the match. Bangalore was already pegged with injuries and the replacements were not able to push beyond their starts. Eventually, Hyderabad returned triumphant by 35 runs.

Stand-in skipper Shane Watson won the toss and opted to bowl. David Warner began with a boundary through the cover region of debutant Tymal Mills and followed it up with a four and a six of the next over of Aniket Chaudhary but the left arm pacer returned strongly to dismiss the southpaw with a full delivery outside the off stump. The ball flew off the outside edge and was safely taken by Mandeep Singh at backward point.

Dhawan smashed four boundaries in the 6th over of Shane Watson and the southpaw looked in ominous touch which might be good signs for India going into the Champions Trophy title defence in June. His partner Travis Head was also looking in good touch and smashed a big six of Moises Henriques in the 6th over.

Dhawan was eventually dismissed by medium pacer Stuart Binny in the 11th over while trying to up the tempo. His innings of 40 of 31 deliveries contained 5 hits to the fence. In came Yuvraj Singh and the southpaw looked in complete command. He started striking the ball from the word go and looked in ominous touch. He smashed Chaudhary for a couple of fours and a six in the 13th over and followed it up with a couple of sixes and a four in the 15th over.

Yuvraj reached his fastest half-century in IPL of just 23 balls and was instrumental in taking their score over the 200 mark. He was eventually dismissed by Tymal Mills in the penultimate over after the left-hander smashed him for a four and a six. Ben Cutting smashed a couple of sixes in the final over to propel their score to 207 in the allotted 20 overs.

Royal Challengers began in an impressive fashion with Mandeep Singh striking two delightful blows of Ashish Nehra and Chris Gayle followed it up with a four and a six of Nehra’s very next over. The southpaw treated Bhuvneshwar Kumar with a six in the 4th over as the RCB looked set to chase the total down. Debutant Rashid Khan bamboozled Mandeep with a well tossed up googly. It took the inside edge of Mandeep’s bat and crashed into the stumps.

In the 7th over, off-spinner, Deepak Hooda induced Chris Gayle into a false shot as he was held out by captain David Warner in the deep.Pocket sized Dynamo  Kedar Jadhav who came out in the middle smashed a couple of lusty blows to announce his arrival in the crease and added a couple more in a matter of minutes.

It was exceptional strokeplay by the little man but an uncharacteristic lapse in concentration cost him and the team dearly as Jadhav was run out by a terrific throw from Ben Cutting.

Rashid Khan prized out his 2nd wicket when he dismissed Travis Head with yet another wrong un. Stuart Binny struck two big sixes but his innings was short-lived as the visitors kept losing wickets at regular intervals during the dying stages of the match. Veteran Ashish Nehra bagged two consecutive wickets in the 18th over and narrowly missed out on a hat-trick. The visitors eventually fell short of the total by 35 runs.

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