IPL 2020 Eliminator, SRH vs RCB 1st innings: Windies star all-rounder Jason Holder picked crucial three wickets to restrict RCB to paltry 131/7 in the do-or-die clash on Friday at Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. Royal Challengers Bangalore were jolted early and heavily by Holder who cleaned up both in-form RCB openers Virat Kohli (6) and Devdutt Padikkal (1) early on. SRH never allowed Bangalore to pull themselves back into the match as after loosing Virat and Padikkal, RCB lost Finch for 32 and few deliveries later veteran Moeen Ali threw away his wicket by getting run-out on a free hit. Later, Holder dismissed Dube for 8 to pick his third wicket of the match.
AB de Villiers, like he has done most of the times, played an important innings for his squad and was also the highest run-scorer for RCB (43-ball 56).
Sunrisers Hyderabad won the toss and opted to field first in the do-or-die clash today. For Bangalore, skipper Virat Kolhi surprised everyone by coming out to bat as an opener with in-form Devdutt Padikkal. Kohli took the strike and faced speedster Sandeep Sharma with the new ball, who possesses the record of getting the RCB skipper out most time in the history of Indian Premier League.
Kohli somehow managed to save his wicket in the first and also got 5 runs off it but all-rounder Jason Holder, bowling the second over of the match, got the early and big breakthrough for his team in the must-win clash as he ended Kohli's stay at the crease on just his second ball. Kolhi had to walk back to the pavilion for just 6 runs after edging the delivery to the wicket-keeper.
Aaron Finch, the new man in, finally got the much-needed boundary for his team after a gap of 18 deliveries. Just when it seemed that RCB might stitch a solid stand to get things going for Bangalore, Holder struck for the second time. Bowling his second over, he got his second wicket, courtesy a stunning leap-catch from Priyam Garg that lead to Padikkal's departure for 6-ball 1 after he failed to clear the mid-wicket for a boundary.
RCB were 15-2 off 3.3 overs when AB de Villers joined Finch in the middle. The duo kept the scoreboard ticking with occasional singles, considering the loss of early wickets. Brilliant bowling from Sandeep and Holder in the first six overs restricted Sunrises Hyderabad to 32/2 - RCB's second lowest Powerplay score in IPL 2020 after 30/2 vs SRH in Sharjah last Saturday.
Halfway through the innings, with 10 overs left, Aaron Finch and AB de Villiers were batting the SRH bowlers on a tough batting track to repair things but the bowlers keep things tight with RCB going at 5 runs per over.
For the 3rd-wicket stand, ABD and Finch added 30 runs from 33 balls as they looked to set a nice platform for their team but spinner Shahbaz Nadeem broke their partnership by picking the wicket of well-set Aaron Finch for 32. The young sensational spinner continued his good form this season by getting the much-needed wicket for his team. Finch looked to clear the off side field for a boundary but ended up giving a catch to Abdul Samad.
Moeen Ali, the next man in was fortunate enough to get a free hit off the first ball he faced, but SRH's veteran leegie Rashid Khan came up with a fiery throw to hit the stumps at the non-striker's end and clean up Ali for zero. RCB were now under immense pressure with four wickets down.
The good 37-run partnership between De Villiers and Dube was broken by none another than Holder who got Shivam Dube's leading edge off a well-placed slower ball for just 8 runs. Sensational speedster T Natarajan picked his first wicket of the game by departing Sundar for and later bowled the ball of the night, a fiery yorker to clean up the well-set De Villiers for 56.
In the end, RCB could manage only 131/7 in their allotted 20 overs. The team that looses tonight will be eliminated while the winners will face Delhi Capitals in Qualifier 2 on Sunday.
Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI): David Warner(c), Shreevats Goswami(w), Manish Pandey, Kane Williamson, Priyam Garg, Jason Holder, Abdul Samad, Rashid Khan, Shahbaz Nadeem, Sandeep Sharma, T Natarajan
Royal Challengers Bangalore (Playing XI): Aaron Finch, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli(c), AB de Villiers(w), Moeen Ali, Washington Sundar, Shivam Dube, Navdeep Saini, Adam Zampa, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal