NEWS
Follow UsSunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) entered the clash on April 25 (Thursday) having smashed all batting records, and with them already having notched up 287 against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the two sides’ first meeting of the season, many predicted Pat Cummins’ side to steamroll the Reds once again, considering they were also playing at home.
However, for once, SRH’s aggressive approach backfired. Chasing 207, SRH kept swinging like they’ve been doing all season, but ended up losing wickets aplenty this time around. They lost four inside the powerplay and were seven down by the 14th over. Eventually, they ended up falling 35 short of the target set by RCB.
The hosts played a lot of rash shots on the night, but in the aftermath of the defeat, their skipper Cummins reaffirmed that his side, going forward, will continue to throw the kitchen sink with the bat in hand.
“The boys have been going really well, it's T20 cricket, you are not going to win every game. Important to not dwell on this [loss] too much,” Cummins said at the post-match presentation.
“The aggressive approach is not going to work every game. But in the one or two games where it hasn't gone our way at the start, we’ve still managed to get a good total. Still think this is the way forward for our boys.”
As far as the game itself is concerned, Cummins felt that SRH lost the game with the ball, conceding one too many runs above par. On the night, the Sunrisers bowlers were punished by the duo of Rajat Patidar (50 off 20) and Cameron Green (37* off 20).
“We gave away a few over par and we lost too many wickets,” Cummins said, talking about the game.
“We were gonna bat first, it seems to be working for us. Before the last few wins, we were thinking that we were a bowl-first team. Didn't go our way.”
RCB skipper Faf du Plessis, meanwhile, said that the victory tonight will go a long way in providing confidence to the group. Du Plessis said that the group was delighted to get over the line finally after falling agonizingly close on multiple occasions.
“We've been close for a while, but you need to win matches to get confidence as a group,” du Plessis said.
“You can't speak confidence into the group, can't fake confidence into the group. Only thing that gives confidence is performances.”
Du Plessis said that he was pleased to see batters other than Virat stepping up and coming to the party, something that did not happen in the first half of the season. Kohli scored a half century tonight, but it was because of the duo of Green and Patidar that RCB got over the 200-run mark.
“More guys are scoring runs now. First half of the tournament only Virat was scoring runs. Greeny scoring runs now will be massive for him. Rajat getting back to back fifties will be great for him as well,” the RCB skipper said.
Despite the win, RCB find themselves at the bottom of the table, having won just two in nine. The Reds have two days off before taking on Gujarat Titans next in Ahmedabad on April 28 (Sunday).
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