Ishan Kishan smashes blistering unbeaten 94 off just 48 balls as SRH post mammoth 231-6 to beat already-qualified RCB by 42 runs in Lucknow
SRH’s Ishan Kishan during his 94 not out vs RCB yesterday. Pic/PTI
Royal Challengers Bangalore, playing an IPL game after three weeks, got a reality check in their penultimate league match against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Ekana Stadium on Friday night.
It was a game which they were eager to win in order to improve their chances of finishing in the Top-2 after having already qualified for the Playoffs. But they had not reckoned with already-eliminated Sunrisers Hyderabad coming hard at them.
Led by an aggressive, unbeaten 94 by Ishan Kishan, SRH ran up a challenging total of 231-6 after being asked to bat first. It was the second successive game here in Lucknow where the team was required to chase down more than 200, which was successfully done by SRH against Lucknow Super Giants, getting 206 with consummate ease. But RCB, after initially looking good enough, faltered in the end and lost the game by much to the disappointment of the local fans supporting RCB, were all out for 189, losing the game by 42 runs.
With this defeat, RCB have remained on 17 points and in the third spot in the points table. RCB play their last game here against LSG on Tuesday and will require nothing less than a win to have a chance of finishing in the Top-2.
When RCB began the chase Virat Kohli was in sublime form as he struck the SRH bowlers to all parts to collect a quickfire 43 from 25 balls and with Phil Salt (62 from 32) to get the chase going. Salt was rather lucky as he survived despite being caught off successive deliveries off Harshal Patel, the first turned out to be a waist-high no-ball and the next one was a free hit.
Salt made the most of the largess and helped Kohli put on 80 for the opening wicket. When he departed at 120 in the 11th over, the match was placed in the balance. After the departure of the openers, it was stand-in captain Jitesh Sharma, and original skipper Rajat Patidar, playing only as an impact batter after recovering from a recent finger injury, who took things forward till Eshan Malinga ran out Patidar and had Romario Shepherd caught off his own bowling. That virtually took the steam out of the RCB challenge, with Malinga (2-37) and skipper Pat Cummins (3-28) being incisive in the closing stages.
Brief scores
SRH 231-6 in 20 overs (I Kishan 94*, A Sharma 34; R Shepherd 2-14) beat RCB 189 all out in 19.5 overs (P Salt 62, V Kohli 43; P Cummins 3-28, E Malinga 2-37) by 42 runs
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