Record run fest ends!
Here are a few paras to sum up the day:
Against Royal Challengers Bangalore, Sunrisers Hyderabad showed how merciless modern T20 batting can look. They posted 287, an IPL record.
Travis Head, who has won Australia the World Test Championship and the ODI World Cup final over the last year, sent another warning signal for his opponents for the upcoming T20 World Cup. After his knock of 62 from 24 balls against Mumbai Indians earlier this season, he belted a career-best 102 off 41 against RCB. That included nine fours and eight sixes.
Heinrich Klaasen, who hits sixes with the ease of munching cookies, pumped 67 from 31 deliveries. Forty-two of those runs came from sixes alone. Abdul Samad turned into Romario Shepherd in finishing on 37* off ten balls, as Sunrisers clubbed 46 in the last two overs.
It was all so repetitive that the predictability of it almost made it boring. In all, Sunrisers pumped 22 sixes - another IPL record - and RCB 16 of them on a dream day for batters.
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Karthik entertains
After RCB's Nos. 3-5 departed for 7, 9 and 0 respectively, Dinesh Karthik provided some entertainment for the crowd. He added 59 with Mahipal Lomror, out of which the latter contributed only 19. Lomror hit two sixes, but Karthik kept pumping boundaries from the other end.
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Cummins came back to bowl the 15th over, and had Lomror chopping on. RCB 187 for 6, with five overs left. They have, undoubtedly, gone hard and tried their best in pursuit of 288.
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How incredible was SRH's carnage?
By Shiva Jayaraman
Sunrisers Hyderabad took T20 batting to a new level in this match. They hit 41 boundaries in the innings, which was remarkable. Only once has a team hit more boundaries in an IPL match, which was in the famous Royal Challengers Bengaluru versus Pune Warriors game in 2013. Chris Gayle contributed 30 out of 42 boundaries on that occasion.
However, this innings by SRH was different for the relentless hitting by their batters throughout the innings. On an average, there was a gap of just 1.76 balls between any two boundary balls in the innings, which showed how sustained the onslaught was from the SRH batters. In comparison, when they made 277 against Mumbai Indians, there were just four fewer boundaries hit, but the gap between boundary balls was 2.50 in that innings.
Only once has an innings of 20 overs in the IPL seen a more attacking innings in these terms. Lucknow Super Giants hit an equal number of boundaries in their innings against Punjab Kings in Mohali last year when they made 257. There was a gap of just 1.56 balls on an average between two boundaries in that innings. However, where SRH topped that effort by LSG was in their six-hitting frequency in this match. SRH's’ 22 sixes were eight more than the number hit by LSG. There was a gap of just 3.80 balls between any two sixes in the innings. This is the best ‘pulse rate’ of sixes seen in an IPL innings of 20 overs.
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RCB crumble as SRH keep striking
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Four wickets in the space of 13 legal balls. Two of them go to Cummins, as he gets du Plessis for 62, and Chauhan for a duck in the tenth over. RCB 122 for 5 after ten.
Du Plessis got to his fifty off 23 balls off the fifth ball of the eighth over, which was bowled by Jaydev Unadkat. He reached out far away from his body, and managed to slash it over short third. Next ball, he drove down the ground, only for the ball to tickle Unadkat's hands and flick the bails at the non-striker's end. Will Jacks there was well into an attempted single, and so far short of his crease!
In came Rajat Patidar, and thumped his second ball for a massive six over Markande's head. Two legal balls later, he heaved across the line only to find the fielder at wide long-on.
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RCB >> SRH
SRH were 76 without loss after the powerplay. RCB have bettered that with 79 by their own openers. Kohli coolly lofts Cummins over his head to end the powerplay. He is on 42 off 19 balls, with six fours and two sixes. Du Plessis has raced away to 37 from 17, including five fours and two sixes. Game on?!
But, but... SRH get their Impact Sub into action, and he delivers straight away. Mayank Markande tosses up a googly, getting it to dip on a length on off stump, as it drifts in. Kohli goes for the slog sweep, but is beaten by the turn and the slowness of the ball. RCB 80 for 1 after 6.2 overs, with Kohli gone for 42 off 20.
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Early luck for Kohli
Like RCB, SRH have a spinner bowling the first over. Left-armer Abhishek Sharma starts from around the stumps to Kohli and du Plessis. Fifth ball, he sticks his right hand out but drops Kohli, who had forcefully played it back to the bowler.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar comes on for the second over, and Kohli lofts barely over the leaping short-third fielder. Two overs are gone, with RCB on 21.
99.28 That's the percentage of chance our forecaster gives to SRH, just two overs into the chase. Who's to blame?
Meanwhile, SRH had brought on Mayank Markande as Impact Sub for Travis Head at the start of RCB's innings.
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SRH finish on record 287!
This is how the last two overs played by Samad and Markram went:
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The IPL record of 277 by SRH is broken by a fully deserving SRH. Hemant Brar from the Chinnaswamy says there is "applause from the crowd as SRH go past 277". They finish on 287 tonight, rewriting the books, and on the way, frustrating RCB fans and all but killing their hopes. Saurav Chauhan drops Abdul Samad off the last ball, and that sums up RCB's campaign.
22 Sixes crashed by SRH. The most in an IPL innings. Back in 2013, Chris Gayle had cracked 17 sixes out of RCB's 21, so far the IPL record.
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Full tosses... but RCB almost gain twice
Nothing was working. No matter the batter and the lengths, the ball still disappeared. So Ferguson decided to end the 17th over with a wide full toss outside off. Klaasen looked to simply use the high pace of the bowler and guide it beyond point, but could only get it as far as the fielder inside the circle. Simple catch for Vyshak, and Klaasen walks back after 67 from 31 balls.
Come the second delivery of the 18th, Dayal bowled a dipping full toss wide of off, which Markram sliced to short third. But the siren went off, and replays show Dayal had bowled a no-ball! Talk about problems compounding. SRH at 241 for 3 after 18, with the possibility of breaching 277 entirely looming. At the end of the over, RCB bring in Anuj Rawat as Impact Sub for Yash Dayal.
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Fifty for Klaasen!
The 15th over ended with Klaasen clubbing a six over the bowler Vyshak's head, capitalising on a low full toss to send it bang into the sightscreen! Fifty from just 23 balls.
266 The score which ESPNcricinfo's forecaster thinks SRH will scale tonight, with five overs left. Who needs a reminder that SRH have already posted 277 this season, which is an IPL record?
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Bring on some spin!
RCB entered this match without a single specialist spinner. They went for the offspin of Will Jacks when they saw two left-handers open the innings. Jacks was taken for 32 in his three overs. RCB's pace bowlers Topley, Dayal, Ferguson and Vyshak were belted for 137 off ten overs.
So du Plessis brought on the part-time left-arm spin of Mahipal Lomror, seeing two right-handers at the crease. The result? Two sixes, and three wides outside off. SRH 189 for 2 after 14.
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Hundred for Head!
All he needs is 39 balls, getting there in 11.4 overs. With nine fours and eight sixes, bossing the RCB bowlers like a high-school student treating kindergarten kids. If there were anything such as T20 Bazball, both Head and his partner Klaasen specialise in that.
But he finally falls. Ferguson goes for a knuckle ball on the third ball of the 13th over, and Head sends one miles up into the night sky. Faf du Plessis at mid-off looks up for a good 15 seconds, before grabbing it with a reverse cup and tumbling down. Head gone for 102 off merely 41 deliveries. SRH 171 for 2 after 13, with Markram joining his South Africa team-mate Klaasen in the middle.
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Royal Challengers Breathe!
Abhishek Sharma spots one slanting into his pads, and clips Dayal aerially to long leg. But that has come only after he and Head rammed their way to 108 off the first eight overs. Sensing the mood, SRH promote Klaasen up to No. 3.
14 Before today, Klaasen had batted at No. 3 only 14 times out of his 170 T20 innings. The last time it had come was at the Hundred last year. He ended up cracking an unbeaten 42 off 24 balls, including four sixes.
SRH had used Klaasen at that spot once last season too, but he managed only 18 from 13 balls against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium, another small ground and one with favourable batting conditions.
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Powerful powerplay!
The fifth over of the day is bowled by RCB's first-timer Ferguson. His second and third balls arrive at 147 and 144kph, respectively. But they are both dispatched for six by Head: the first a clip over square leg, and the next a swat over midwicket. Head ends the over with a four by going over mid-off. Boom!
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RCB have Dayal concluding the powerplay, but Head flies his way to a 20-ball fifty off the fifth ball of the over. On the way, he has already bashed three fours and five sixes. SRH 76 without loss after six overs. A helpless RCB opt for the time out!
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Head, Abhishek target pace
With Maxwell missing, RCB gave the new ball to offspinner Will Jacks to try and take it away from the left-handers. He got the first ball of the day to turn away from a fullish length outside off. Abhishek Sharma left it alone, and the ball bounced nicely too. There was some slow turn on display, and although Abhishek slashed a short ball over cover, the over went for only seven.
Topley came on for the second over, and Head and Abhishek did this to him.
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Jacks gets the ball for his second over in a row, and he varies his pace. Head misses out as Jacks slowed it down. And when he saw Head skip down, Jacks went with one at 101kph. A quiet over for SRH.
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From the Chinnaswamy
Here's Hemant's report:
RCB go in with four seamers and no specialist spinner
For the first time this season, RCB have picked two overseas fast bowlers: Topley and Ferguson. In fact, they have four seamers in their bowl-first XI, Vijaykumar Vyshak and Yash Dayal being the other two. Will Jacks and Mahipal Lomror will have to be their fifth bowler.
The RCB team director, Mo Bobat, said yesterday that they have been working closely with the curators to make fast pitches to win more regularly at the Chinnaswamy. So far, they have not been able to get what they exactly wanted and have lost two of their three games here.
For tonight’s game, one half of the pitch – if you cut it vertically – has a lot of grass, while the other hardly any. It will be interesting to see how it plays, and how much help it will have for fast bowlers.
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Where will the ball(s) land today?
It's a small ground, and SRH are coming off a six-day break. They have so far played five games, and have the joint-second-highest run rate of 10.66 in the powerplay. Their batters strike at 167.58 during that phase, again the second best among all sides this season. Two left-handers in Head and Abhishek are set to open the batting for SRH. No Maxwell for RCB to help take the ball away from them. Maybe we'll need a change of ball every now and then, with some of them found among the bushes at the Cubbon Park nearby.
What adds to RCB's dilemma is that they have been the most expensive side in the powerplay this year, with their bowlers getting crashed at 10.19 an over. They have also conceded the most sixes, with 21. May Lockie Ferguson help unlock the door to some success.
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Team news
Lockie Ferguson gets his cap from Siraj. The deafening roar makes du Plessis wait before he can let us know what he would opt to do. Finally, he is able to say that RCB will bowl first. Maxwell and Siraj "are missing out", in the words of du Plessis.
Pat Cummins, meanwhile, says "240 feels like par". And why not when you have names like Head, Klaasen, Markram and Abhishek in your side?
RCB: 1 Faf du Plessis, 2 Kohli, 3 Patidar, 4 Chauhan, 5 Jacks, 6 Karthik, 7 Lomror, 8 Topley, 9 Vyshak, 10 Ferguson, 11 Dayal. Impact Subs: Prabhudesai, Siraj, Rawat, Swapnil and Karn
SRH: 1 Head, 2 Abhishek, 3 Markram, 4 Klaasen, 5 Samad, 6 Reddy, 7 Shahbaz, 8 Cummins, 9 Bhuvneshwar, 10 Unadkat, 11 Natarajan. Impact Subs: Malik, Anmolpreet, Markande, Philips and Tripathi
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Eyes in the middle
Our reporter Hemant Brar's binoculars have helped him note these at the Chinnaswamy: Lockie Ferguson and Reece Topley have marked their run-ups. He wonders whether Ferguson is all but set to start tonight.
But ideally, RCB can only accommodate one of him and Topley. England's left-arm seamer has so far taken three wickets in three games, but has conceded at just above nine runs an over. Plus, Ferguson is express pace, which could help the ball skid through off the surface.
But among all that, what has gone wrong with Mohammed Siraj, RCB's spearhead?
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Namaskara!
Welcome to the south-India derby. Neighbours Hyderabad are in Bengaluru, where residents have only prayer on their lips at the moment: Oh God, may RCB climb up the table it rain soon! The weather has been harsh, and RCB have started equally poorly. They are right at the bottom of the points table, and welcome a side which loves to smash sixes - just as much as Bengalureans love(d) the climate!
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