Rajat Patidar's explosive fifty and a collective effort from the spinners set up Royal Challengers Bengaluru's 35-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the IPL 2024 match on Thursday, thus ending the six-match losing streak.
Patidar's 50 off 20 balls stood in stark contrast to Virat Kohli's measured 51 off 43 balls as RCB put up 206 for seven after opting to bat.
Check IPL 2024 points table here For a team that has breached the 250-run mark thrice season, the target was very gettable but the in-form SRH batting line-up could not deliver on this occasion and ended at 171 for eight in 20 overs.
It was a much-needed result for RCB, who lost seven of their first eight games. The loss was SRH's third in eight matches.
Considering the effectiveness of the spinners in the first innings, RCB opened the bowling with part-time off-spinner Will Jacks. The English man had the destructive Travis Head (1 off 3) caught at third man to give RCB a massive boost.
Head's opening partner Abhishek Sharma (31 off 13) did entertain the home crowd until his attempted slog ended up in the hands of wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik.
Left-arm spinner Swapnil Singh, making his RCB debut, struck twice in his first over removing the dangerous South Africa duo of Aiden Markram and Henrich Klaasen. While Markram missed a full toss to be adjudged lbw, Klaasen was caught at mid-on after mistiming a lofted drive, leaving SRH at 56 for four in five overs.
Leggie Karn Sharma then dismissed Nitish Reddy and Abdul Samad to shut the door on the opposition.
IPL 2024: SRH vs RCB Playing 11
SRH Playing 11: Abhishek Sharma, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen(w), Nitish Reddy, Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahmed, Pat Cummins(c), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, Mayank Markande, T Natarajan
Sunrisers Hyderabad Impact Subs: Travis Head, Umran Malik, Anmolpreet Singh, Glenn Phillips, Washington Sundar
RCB Playing 11: Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis(c), Will Jacks, Rajat Patidar, Cameron Green, Dinesh Karthik(w), Mahipal Lomror, Karn Sharma, Lockie Ferguson, Mohammed Siraj, Yash Dayal.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru Impact Subs: Suyash Prabhudessai, Anuj Rawat, Himanshu Sharma, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Swapnil Singh