HYDERABAD: To stop a chain reaction is an onerous task. An analogy could be made taking into account the recent outings of Sunrisers Hyderabad batsmen, for they have seemed unstoppable. The team have posted 200 plus totals twice in three innings already. Ask the bowlers who have faced them this season.
The credit goes to the new opening pair of David Warner and Jonny Bairstow. If the successful pair of Shikhar Dhawan and Warner used contrasting approach to chop through bowling attacks, the new duo have almost matched each other when it comes to dominating the innings.
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On a hot Sunday evening, when the mercury hovered in the early 40 degrees, at Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, the openers scored a century each to put up a mammoth 231/2 on the board against Royal Challengers Bangalore. This is only the second instance in IPL when two centuries were hit during the same innings. While Bairstow made a 56-ball 114, Warner remained unbeaten on 100. It was also Warner’s fourth IPL ton.
Bangalore were not in contest during the run chase and were bowled out for 113. It was also Bangalore’s third straight defeat in the tournament.
Much of the credit for Hyderabad’s second win goes to the Warner-Bairstow pair, who became the first-ever in IPL history to put up three consecutive 100-run stands. It is hard to imagine that any other batsman could dominate the proceedings when Warner is at the crease. The Englishman did that with aplomb, hitting bowlers such as Umesh Yadav with utmost ease.
Skipper Kohli missed a trick when he introduced two spinners in the powerplay itself. The first over by Moeen Ali yielded 14 runs, and the third by Yuzvendra Chahal went for 11. It was not the best of plans considering Warner was last dismissed by fingerspinner inside the powerplay way back in 2011.
When it came to chasing down the target, Bangalore looked out of sorts from the first ball. Their spin strategy, that proved to be futile in the first half, ended up sealing the victory for the hosts, as Afghan spinner Mohammad Nabi’s (4/11) strikes in the initial overs left the visitors running like headless chickens.
Both Kohli and AB de Villiers got out cheaply and half the team was back by the time they reached 30. A 51-run stand between debutant Prayas Ray Barman (14) and Colin de Grandhomme (32-ball 37) delayed the inevitable.