In the Eliminator too, skipper David Warner used Bhuvneshwar and Mustafizur to create a lot of pressure on Kolkata Knight Riders’ batsmen and eventually they cracked.
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Bangalore’s previous final appearances came in 2009 and 2011, when they suffered defeats to Deccan Chargers and Chennai Super Kings. Instead they had to pack their bags as Sunrisers inflicted a 22-run defeat. Gujarat Lions lost by Royal Challengers Bangalore in a crucial match.
Back in April, Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers ran riot in a 45-run victory for RCB, as they posted 227-4 after their 20 overs. Given the batting strength of RCB, the Hyderabad bowling unit, which is without the injured Ashish Nehra, will have to perform well to ensure they don’t get hit all around the compact park.
Earlier in the match, Australian right-hander Finch hit two sixes and seven fours to register his fifth century of the tournament, even as his team kept losing wickets at regular intervals.
Throughout the IPL IX, the Kotla pitch behaved in a sporting manner and offered equal opportunities to batsmen and bowlers. At Rajkot, SRH had restricted GL to 135-8 and in the next game in Hyderabad, SRH had restricted the Gujarat Lions to 126-6. His accuracy and intelligence in the death overs have earned him accolades from all quarters. And it was leg spinner Yuzvendra Chahal who rallied the bowling.
The Indian Premier League bandwagon continues to roll with the final two matches of this season taking place on Friday and Sunday.
Warner, on Wednesday night, gave respect to the Gujarat bowling. He is definitely a key player.
David Warner played an exceptional innings on the night to successfully chase down a total of 162. Dwayne Smith has been playing very well.
Nevertheless, after they still ran out massive winners in Yorkshire, England were overwhelming favourites to win again, especially after winning the toss and making first use of the pitch, meaning if you want to have a bet on some larger odds, you might need to take a look at some other markets.
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This IPL it’s been about batting like never seen before. It’ll be a big task for us to get (Chris) Gayle, Virat (Kohli) and AB (De Villiers) and later, (Shane) Watson, out. When these too can stay in form, Sunrisers can be on the top. Now, they face off in the second qualifier, a virtual semi-final. The team bus was caught in a traffic jam but they made up for the loss of time with some intense practice for about two hours. The further irony here is while Sharma will most definitely play, the looming presence of two other left-handers in Shikhar Dhawan and Yuvraj Singh in the Hyderabad camp, may well see Abdulla sit out – horses for courses being the prevailing buzzword.
