De Villiers, Ali keep RCB's play-off hopes alive

Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper Kane Williamson won the toss and put Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) to bat in what is a must-win Indian Premier League (IPL) game for the home side.

Royal Challengers Bangalore kept their playoff hopes alive as Sunrisers Hyderabad's skipper Kane Williamson (81 off 42) and Manish Pandey's (62 not out off 38) blistering knock went in vain in a crucial Indian Premier League (IPL) clash at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Thursday.

It was once again Williamson, who along with Pandey forged a crucial partnership to take Hyderabad on the verge of another nail-biting win. However, it was the hosts who clinched the issue by 14 runs to keep their playoff dream alive.

Chasing the massive 219-run target, Hyderabad openers Shikhar Dhawan (18) and Alex Hales (37) took their side to a quick start, accumulating 47 runs in the first five overs.

However, the decent start was short-lived as Yuzvendra Chahal drew the first blood for the hosts in the sixth over when Dhawan came down the track but chipped back to the bowler.

With addition of another 17 runs in Hyderabad's scorecard, AB de Villiers took a stunning catch at deep midwicket to pack back Hales off a Moeen Ali delivery.

Skipper Williamson and Pandey then took the command, taking their side to touch the three-figure mark in 11.3 overs.

Meanwhile, the Hyderabad captain slammed his half-century off 28 balls, helping his side inch closer to the target.

The duo went on to forge a crucial 135-run partnership for the third wicket, lifting the visitors to 199 runs in 19.1 overs.

With 19 needed off the final over, Mohammed Siraj jolted Hyderabad dismissing the visiting skipper to bring back Bangalore in the game.

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Williamson's knock was laced with seven fours and five sixes.

Pandey and incoming batsman Deepak Hooda could only manage five runs off the final five deliveries as the hosts sealed the match by 14 runs to keep them afloat in the league.

For Bangalore, Chahal, Siraj and Ali bagged one wicket each.

Earlier, AB de Villiers and Moeen Ali smashed quickfire half-centuries to propel Royal Challengers Bangalore to an imposing 218 for six against table-toppers Sunrisers Hyderabad in a must-win Indian Premier League match.

Sent into bat, De Villiers (69 off 39) and Ali (65 off 34) overcame a bad start to stitch 107 runs off just 57 balls for the third wicket to set the platform for RCB's total.

Afghanistan's leg-spinner Rashid Khan once again shone bright with the ball for Sunrisers with figures of 3/27 from his four over.

But Sunrisers were off to a great start as they reduced RCB to 38 for two inside five overs after opting to field.

Sandeep Sharma (1/40) struck the first blow with the last ball of the opening over, removing Parthiv Patel caught by Siddharth Kaul at third man boundary.

De Villiers then got into the act for RCB, hitting some exquisite boundaries off Shakib Al Hasan and Sandeep before Rashid cleaned up skipper Virat Kohli (12) with a googly in the fifth over.

Brought into the attack in the eighth over, Basil Thampi leaked runs as Ali smashed consecutive sixes off the pacer -- first over mid-off and then over square-leg boundary -- to give momentum to RCB's innings.

De Villiers brought up his fifty off 32 balls with two consecutive boundaries off Kaul (2/44) in the 12th over and then Ali followed suit notching up his maiden IPL half-century with a four of Thampi in the next over.

The duo went hammer and tongs as an otherwise tidy Sunrisers bowling attack looked clueless in front of the onslaught.

But just when it seemed the duo would run away with their power-hitting, Rashid struck twin blows in the 15th over removing both the set batsmen.

De Villiers perished in search of a big shot caught by Shikhar Dhawan at deep square leg while Ali reverse-paddled a delivery to Sreevats Goswami behind the stumps a ball later.

While De Villiers struck as many as 12 fours and one six, Ali's innings was laced with two boundaries and six hits over the fence.

Thereafter, Colin de Grandhomme used his brute power to score 40 runs off just 17 balls while Sarfaraz Khan remained unbeaten on 22 off 8 balls to provide the late impetus to RCB's innings.

It turned out to be a forgettable day for Thampi as he conceded the most runs by a bowler in an innings in the history of IPL. He leaked 70 runs from his dour overs.

Toss

Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper Kane Williamson won the toss and put Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) to bat in what is a must-win Indian Premier League (IPL) game for the home side.

Having already qualified for the play-offs, Sunrisers, the table toppers made one change to their playing XI with pacer Basil Thampi replacing Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

On the other hand, the hosts decided to go with an unchanged XI at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here.

“Hard to know how the surface will play, so we'll try and make use of it first with the ball in hand. Hopefully we can restrict them,” said Williamson.

It's my 163rd IPL game, so not my first (when Morrison asked if he was nervous about where RCB were). We have been through these times before, so the key is to enjoy. There's no reason to think too much now because we have two (consecutive) wins. Another day in life, so just enjoy,” said Kohli

Teams:
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (Captain), Parthiv Patel (WK), Moeen Ali, AB de Villiers, Mandeep Singh, Sarfaraz Khan, Colin de Grandhomme, Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal.

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Shikhar Dhawan, Alex Hales, Kane Williamson (Captain), Manish Pandey, Deepak Hooda, Shakib Al Hasan, Shreevats Goswami (WK), Rashid Khan, Basil Thampi, Siddharth Kaul, Sandeep Sharma.