Twitter Reactions: Nabi, Bairstow and Warner combine to horrify RCB in Hyderabad
The run-chase turned out to be equivalent to a nightmare for the Challengers.
Royal Challengers Bangalore’s (RCB) campaign went from bad to worse as they lost their third successive match in this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL) and are the current cellar dwellers. The Virat Kohli-captained Challengers lost to the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by 118 runs at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. Meanwhile, SRH moved to the top of the points table.
Warner and Bairstow take charge
After losing the toss and being put in to bat first, the hosts racked up a mammoth score of 231 for two in 20 overs. And most of the damage was done by the opening pair of Jonny Bairstow and David Warner. The left-right duo cobbled together an incredible stand of 185 runs in 16.2 overs. Their stand also broke Chris Lynn and Gautam Gambhir’s record of the highest opening stand in the T20 tournament.
Both batsmen went on to score centuries and pushed the opposition onto the backfoot. Even as Bairstow perished after scoring 114 runs from 56 balls with 12 fours and seven sixes, Warner remained not out on 100 off 55 deliveries with five fours and as many sixes. For RCB, Yuzvendra Chahal picked up one wicket and the other wicket of Vijay Shankar came in the form of a run-out in the 18th over.
RCB commits hara-kiri
The run-chase started on a horrendous note for the visitors as Mohammad Nabi picked up wickets in heaps. The Afghan tweaker removed Parthiv Patel to draw first blood. Then he got rid of Shimron Hetmyer, who was sent to open the batting. In the same over, the experienced bowler got rid of the dangerous AB de Villiers. Sandeep Sharma nipped out captain Kohli to pick up the fifth RCB wicket.
Nabi accounted for Shivam Dube’s wicket to pick up his fourth wicket. Colin de Grandhomme and Prayas Ray Barman, who became the youngest IPL debutant, put on 51 runs, but it was never going to be enough for the Challengers. Barman fell prey to Sandeep after getting 19 runs from 24 balls. De Grandhomme top-scored for them with 37 runs. RCB ended their innings on 113 in 19.5 overs.
Here is how Twitter reacted
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