The work was cut out for them. Gayle to reach his 76 out of 38 balls, had eight sixes and four boundaries, putting on 114 runs for the opening wicket with Kohli in 10.3 overs.
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Gayle, the Universe Boss was on song.
The gutsy Australian had been at the forefront of SRH’s campaign this year.
“Even today, we had a very good score – again Warner played well and Ben Cutting played a match-changing knock – but when Gayle was firing on all cylinders, what I liked was the body language of the bowlers and the captain”.
The burly Jamaican not only terrorised the SRH bowlers with his power hitting, but also allowed Virat Kohli to settle down, who was finding it hard to time the ball in the initial phase of his innings.
Lauding the support and sympathy of frenzied fans for the home team since the IPL season began here on April 12, Kohli said they have been wonderful even when RCB lost a few games (four).
The red-hot streaks of Kohli (973 runs), who played some astonishing innings in a season in which he scored four centuries, and the South African AB de Villiers (687), who is the supreme innovator, would have been sufficient to frighten anyone but the most determined bowling line-up, which Sunrisers proved to be.
Virat tried, like he has in so many matches for his side, but on the given day fell well short of the target. I was really disappointed to get out on that stage. Yuvraj Singh came back from an injury, and both he and Nehra, have been leaders within the group. This year the RCB team is eyeing on the cup as they are looking to win the match against SRH come what may and lift the cup for the first ever time.
It was just not the economy rate, he also took 17 wickets, the fifth-highest of the season.
Several players made important contributions including their inspirational captain David Watson, who top-scored for his side with 69 runs off 38 balls. SRH eventually managed 208 runs for the loss of seven wickets.
With 18 runs required off the final over, pace spearhead Bhuvneshwar Kumar – the leading wicket taker of the season with 23 scalps – gave away just nine as the Hyderabad players celebrated amid fireworks.
RCB got the biggest breakthru when its most successful bowler Aravind indused Warner to offer a simple catch to Abdulla in the 16th over. A leather hunt ensured in the middle as Warner and later Yuvraj (38) smacked them all over the park.
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Yuzvendra Chahal who was rested for the first qualifier will be finding his spot back in the playing eleven, considering his recent form.
