Sunrisers choke RCB chase for first IPL title

By our correspondents

May 30, 2016

BANGALORE: Sunrisers Hyderabad won their Indian Premier League (IPL) Edition 9 title by 8 runs defeating Royal Challengers Bangalore in the final match at M Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Sunday night.

Sunrisers Hyderabad had made it to the playoffs only once in their IPL history, in 2013. Now, on the biggest stage of them all, they sent out a statement of intent by opting to bat against Royal Challengers Bangalore at a venue where tall scores have been chased down nonchalantly.

David Warner, their talismanic leader, walked the talk to top-score with a 38-ball 69, before Ben Cutting lent the finishing touches with an unbeaten 15-ball 39 to help them post 208 for 7, which proved to be a bit too much for Royal Challengers.

The hosts had breached the 200-mark thrice at home this season. There was no reason why they could not on Sunday, except the pressure of chasing in a final. Not for Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli, though, as the openers wiped 114 in 10.3 overs — Gayle alone accounting for 76 courtesy four fours and eight sixes — to propel the chase. The tournament’s best bowling attack was under pressure now, but clinically applied the brakes after Gayle’s wicket to pip the hosts to win their maiden IPL title.

Shane Watson’s rare off day with the ball cost Royal Challengers big. He lost his mark by a long way, feeding the batsmen with an assortment of hittable deliveries — short, wide and full — to concede 61 off four wicketless overs, the last of which was also the final over of the innings, going for 24.

But Royal Challengers had other ideas. Gayle announced proudly that he was capable of taking the match away single-handedly even before Kohli and AB de Villiers could take off. It may have been a big statement to make by a man who has been a shade of his destructive best. With just one fifty in nine innings prior to the final, there were question marks over his efficiency in the shortest format. Seemingly unperturbed by all the talk, he launched a savage attack.

Gayle’s gung-ho approach allowed Kohli to overcome a patchy start where he showed early signs of desperation. After facing 18 balls for one four, which came off a thick outside edge, he launched himself with an inside-out hit over the infield that nearly carried to a diving Warner at long-off. Gayle then finished that over with two sixes and a four raised Royal Challengers’ 100 in nine overs. With the asking rate under ten runs an over for the first time in the chase, there was a hint of desperation and panic in the Sunrisers ranks.

Score Board

Sunrisers Hyderabad won toss

Sunrisers Hyderabad

*D A Warner c Iqbal b Aravind 69

S Dhawan c Jordan b Chahal 28

M C Henriques c Chahal b Jordan 4

Yuvraj Singh c Watson b Jordan 38

D J Hooda c Kohli b Aravind 3

B C J Cutting not out 39

†N V Ojha run out 7

Bipul Sharma c Chahal b Jordan 5

B Kumar not out 1