Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) skipper Virat Kohli has hailed the team’s victory in the first match of the season which came at the expense of Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Monday as a “come back and a half”.
As it played out, RCB which has earned the tag of chokers in the Indian Premier League tournament over the years, amassed a total of 163 at the end of 20 overs after batting first. But an impressive performance with the ball by spinner Yuzvendra Chahal meant that SRH was limited to 153.
Sunrisers got off to a bad start with David Warner getting run out for 6. Manish Pandey, who came in next, stitched a 71-run partnership with opener Jonny Bairstow.
Just when SRH were approaching the three-digit mark, leg-spinner Chahal cut short Pandey's stay in the middle, sending him back in the 12th over with the scorecard reading 89/2.
In his next over, Chahal struck again, this time getting rid of a dangerous looking Bairstow, whose 61-run knock was laced with six boundaries and two sixes. To complicate things for SRH, Chahal took no time in striking again as he accounted for Vijay Shankar off the very next delivery. Shankar departed without troubling the scorers.
Shivam Dube, too, joined the party as he sent back debutant Priyam Garg (12) in the 17th over, leaving SRH reeling at 129/5.
Off the very next delivery, a mid-pitch collision between new batsman Abhishek Sharma (7) and Rashid Khan resulted in the former getting out. This put SRH in deep trouble, with 29 runs still needed for victory. But they collapsed spectacularly and were all out for 153 in 19.4 overs.
Chahal earned the 'Man of the Match' award for Monday's game. The other star performer for RCB was newbie Devdutt Padikkal who scored 56 runs off 42 balls with eight fours in his IPL debut.
Speaking at the post match ceremony, Kohli lauded Chahal. “Yuzi (Chahal) came in and changed the game for us. Tonight he showed that if you have skill, you can get purchase on any wicket. He came in and bowled attacking lines.”
With a victory in the first match, RCB will now take on Kings XI Punjab on Thursday.