Reliving the magical moments of the Indian Premier League Final, over the years

9. Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Sunrisers Hyderabad – IPL 2016

This season reminded the fans all the memories of IPL 2009. It was the same two teams that clashed each other in the finals but the only difference was that Deccan Chargers was no more to be seen. The Sunrisers Hyderabad replaced the Deccan Chargers as the franchise that represents Hyderabad. The first thing that comes to mind about the 2016 season is the brilliance from David Warner and Virat Kohli. These two more have driven their teams to the finals and what they achieved was truly unbelievable.

In a highly anticipated game, David Warner won the toss and elected to bat first. This final witnessed more than 400 runs scored in the game. Warner yet again led from the front as he scored 69 off 38 deliveries. He was well supported by Yuvraj Singh who scored 38 off 23. But it was Ben Cutting who made the real difference for the SRH in the big finals. He smashed the bowlers all around the park in his brief stay in the middle. He scored 39 from just 15 balls giving SRH the much-needed impetus in the finals and added the ‘cutting-edge’ for SRH.

Given the kind of form Virat Kohli was in, it was never tough for RCB to chase this down. They started off well with a great opening partnership from Gayle and Kohli. They added 114 runs in just 10 overs for the first wicket and the game was well and truly in RCB’s hand. But then, Barinder Sran knocked Virat’s stumps off and Ben Cutting picked the crucial wickets of Gayle and KL Rahul. SRH pulled back things beautifully to win their first title by 8 runs.

Top performers of the season

Although it was the first title for SRH, the Hyderabad franchise won their second title. And technically, they leveled CSK, MI and KKR in terms of the title win. Ben Cutting was the ‘Man of the Match’ for his all-round performance in the final. Undoubtedly, Virat was the ‘Player of the Season’.

Brief Scores:
SRH: 208/7 in 20 overs (David Warner 69, Ben Cutting 39*, Chris Joran 3/45)
RCB: 200/7 in 20 overs (Chris Gayle 76, Virat Kohli 54, Ben Cutting 2/35)