Sunrisers Hyderabad outplayed Royal Challengers Bangalore by 35 runs to win the opening game of the 10th edition of Indian Premier League.
Batting first, Sunrisers scored 207 for 4 in 20 overs after being put into bat first courtesy Yuvraj Singh's 27-ball-62. The innings was studded with seven boundaries and three sixes. He was well supported by Moises Henriques with 52 off 37 balls and Shikhar Dhawan contributing 40 from 30.
In reply, RCB were restricted to 172 with Afghanistan leggie Rashid Khan Arman and Ashish Nehra getting a couple of wickets apiece. Kedar Jadhav was the top scorer with 31 off 16 balls.
RCB INNINGS; TARGET 208
Over 19.4 | Score 172-All Out | Aniket Choudhary 6(2b)
Ben Cutting on for his last over, but the match ended with two balls still remaining. Yuzvendra Chahal run out.
WICKET: Yuzvendra Chahal 3 (7b) run out
Chris Jordan had a direct from mid-wicket, at it hit the target.
Big win for the defending champions, by 35 runs.
Over 19 | Score 165/9 | Yuzvendra Chahal 0(5b); Aniket Choudhary 0(0b)
Bhuvneshwar Kumar also on for his last over. Good one, despite Tymal Mills going for the broke. Nine runs and the wicket of Mills.
WICKET: Tymal Mills c David Warner b Bhuvneshwar Kumar 6 (3b)
Mills his Bhuvi for a six off the fourth ball, but the very next ball, he departed, courtesy a brilliant catch by David Warner.
Bhuvi's figures: 4-0-27-2.
Over 18 | Score 156/8 | Yuzvendra Chahal 0(2b); Tymal Mills 0(0b)
Ashish Nehra returned for his fourth and final over of the day, and what a comeback by the senior statesman of the game. On a hat-trick, and he just missed, going past the outside edge of Yuzvendra Chahal.
Nehra, 37, first send back Shane Watson, caught at mid-wicket by Moises Henriques.
WICKET: Shane Watson c Moises Henriques b Ashish Nehra 22 (17b)
Then, bowled Sreenath Aravind with a beauty.
WICKET: Sreenath Aravind b Ashish Nehra 0 (2b)
It was his 100th IPL wicket. But he missed the hat-trick.
Two runs and two wickets from the over. Tymal Mills is the new man for RCB.
Nehra's figures: 4-0-42-2
Over 17 | Score 154/6 | Shane Watson 20(14b); Sreenath Aravind 0(1b)
Bhuvneshwar Kumar returned for his third over. And soon put Stuart Binny in a spot.
Shane Watson took a single, then Naman Ojha, with gloves dropped Binny. A single for all the troubles. A dot ball, then a single.
Then the moment of truth for Binny. Yuvraj Singh completed a good catch at backward point.
WICKET: Stuart Binny c Yuvraj Singh b Bhuvneshwar Kumar 11 (10b)
Sreenath Aravind is the new man.
Three runs and a wicket from the over.
Over 16 | Score 151/5 | Shane Watson 18(11b); Stuart Binny 10(8b)
Ben Cutting on for his third over. A dot ball to Stuart Binny, then a six as the India all-rounder picked the slower ball and lofted over deep mid-wicket. A single followed.
Shane Watson blocked the next ball, then hit the next ball for a four through mid-off. A single to end the 12-run over.
RCB need another 57 runs from 24 balls.
Over 15 | Score 139/5 | Shane Watson 13(8b); Stuart Binny 3(5b)
Rashid Khan completed his spell of four overs, conceding 36 runs for two wicket. A good debut for the 18-year-old from Afghanistan.
Two singles off the first two balls, then couple of dot balls. Stuart Binny took a single off the fifth ball, then Shane Watson took the risk, playing a pull shot, which went for six.
Over 14 | Score 130/5 | Shane Watson 6(6b); Stuart Binny 1(1b)
Another bowling change for SRH. David Warner introduced Bipul Sharma, and the slow left arm bowler sent back Sachin Baby. Caught at mid-wicket by Moises Henriques. Good catch, running back.
WICKET: Sachin Baby c Moises Henriques b Bipul Sharma 1 (3b)
That happened off the fourth ball of the over.
Stuart Binny is the new man. Four runs from the over, and the asking rate is already 13.
Over 13 | Score 126/4 | Shane Watson 4(4b); Sachin Baby 0(0)
Rashid Khan on for his third over, and returned with the big wicket of Travis Head. Caught at long-on boundary by Yuvraj Singh.
WICKET: Travis Head c Yuvraj Singh b Rashid Khan 30 (22b)
That happened off the penultimate ball of the over.
Eight runs from the over, and a wicket. Sachin Baby joined his skipper Shane Watson in the centre.
Over 12 | Score 118/3 | Travis Head 25(19b); Shane Watson 1(1b)
Moises Henriques returned for his second over, and what an eventful one. A single to Kedar Jadhav off the first ball, then a double to Travis Head. A single, then a rocket throw from Ben Cutting, from long leg. Direct hit, and Jadhav gone.
WICKET: Kedar Jadhav run out 31 (16b)
Skipper Shane Watson joined his Aussie compatriot in the centre.
Two more singles, and seven runs from the over.
Over 11 | Score 111/2 | Travis Head 21(16b); Kedar Jadhav 21(14b)
Ashish Nehra rturned for his third over, and he continued to leak runs. 13 runs from the latest spell.
A single to Travis Head to start the over, then a wide. Two singles followed, before Kedar Jadhav hit first of the two back-to-back fours. A full toss, dispatched with full disdain, into the deep mid-wicket fence.
It was followed by another four, a good pull shot from Jadhav.
A single to end the over.
Over 10 | Score 98/2 | Travis Head 19(14b); Kedar Jadhav 19(10b)
Bowling change for SRH. Moises Henriques on, and 13 runs from the over. The spell started with a no-ball, a high full-toss.
Travis Head hit a four off the free-hit.
Three singles, then a four from Kedar Jadhav to end the over.
Over 9 | Score 85/2 | Travis Head 13(10b); Kedar Jadhav 13(7b)
Ben Cutting back for his second over. 11 runs from the over. A single to Travis Head start the over, then a wide.
A dot ball to Kedar Jadhav, then a single. Head rotated the strike with a single. Jadhav hit the penultimate delivery for a six over deep. A single to end the over.
Strategic Time-Out.
Over 8 | Score 74/2 | Travis Head 11(8b); Kedar Jadhav 5(3b)
Rashid Khan continued with his second over. 13 runs from it as Travis Head and Kedar Yadav played sensibly, and also hitting a four each.
RCB still need another 134 runs from 12 overs.
Over 7 | Score 61/2 | Travis Head 3(4b); Kedar Jadhav 0(1b)
That's what we called body blow. David Warner took the gamble, and introduced Deepak Hooda. The spinner was hit for a huge six by Chris Gayle, but the very next ball, the West Indian ended up throwing his wicket. Caught at long-off by Warner himself.
WICKET: Chris Gayle c David Warner b Deepak Hooda 32 (21b)
Kedar Jadhav is the new man. Seven runs and a wicket from the over.
Over 6 | Score 54/1 | Chris Gayle 26(18b); Travis Head 2(2b)
Double bowling change for SRH. And the man from Afghanistan has struck in the first over. Certainly a hair raising moment for everyone involved in the match.
Rashid Khan, the teen sensation, looked out of sorts in his first three balls. His second ball went for a four, but he managed to got the better of Mandeep Singh. Bowled, thanks to an inside edge. Huge confidence booster for the 18-year-old.
WICKET: Mandeep Singh b Rashid Khan 24 (16b)
Very talented Aussie all-rounder Travis Head joined Chris Gayle in the centre for RCB.
Six runs from the over, and a wicket.
Over 5 | Score 48/0 | Chris Gayle 26(18b); Mandeep Singh 20(12b)
Bowling change for SRH. David Warner brought in Ben Cutting, and soon, got to witness couple of swing and miss from Chris Gayle. Ball still talking in the air.
Gayle was tied down, and if the desperation shown by the big West Indian was any proof, then Cutting was torturing him. A wide and four legal dot balls, then Gayle played out of comfort zone.
Result, a four. Five runs from the over.
Over 4 | Score 43/0 | Chris Gayle 22(12b); Mandeep Singh 20(12b)
This time, Bhuvneshwar Kumar failed to control his spell. Leaked 15 runs as Chris Gayle hit a six, then Mandeep Singh followed it with a four. There was a wide too.
RCB need another 165 runs from 16 overs.
Over 3 | Score 28/0 | Chris Gayle 13(8b); Mandeep Singh 15(10b)
Huge over for RCB. 16 runs from it as Chris Gayle started to open his arms. A dot ball to Gayle to start the over, then a four through fine leg area. A single then Mandeep Singh hit a classic four, lofting over mid-on.
A single, then Gayle lofted for a huge six. The ball stayed in the air for some time, before landing deep inside the mid-wicket stand.
Ashish Nehra now leaked 27 runs from two overs.
Over 2 | Score 12/0 | Chris Gayle 2(4b); Mandeep Singh 10(8b)
Brilliant over from Bhuvneshwar Kumar. A single!
Chris Gayle took two balls to rotate the strike, then Mandeep Singh ate up the remaining deliveries.
RCB need another 196 runs from 18 overs.
Over 1 | Score 11/0 | Chris Gayle 1(1b); Mandeep Singh 10(5b)
Old war horse Ashish Nehra started well, giving a single off the first three balls, but was hit for back-to-back fours by Mandeep Singh off the last two deliveries.
Mandeep's opening partner, Chris Gayle was quiet, taking a single off the first ball of the innings.
11 runs from the over.
Over 20 | Score 207/4 | Deepak Hooda 16* ; Ben Cutting 16
Skipper Shane Watson returned for the last over. A single to Ben Cutting, then another single to Deepak Hooda. Both so called wide yorkers.
But Cutting launched the third over over deep cover for a six, and it was followed by a crunchy straight drive for a double. 200 up for the defending champions.
For a change, a dot ball, off the fifth ball. But Cutting was there to finish off in style, a six over deep mid-wicket.
16 runs from the over. Watson's figures: 3-0-41-0.
Over 19 | Score 191/4 | Deepak Hooda 15* ; Ben Cutting 1
Tymal Mills on for his last over too. A single to Deepak Hooda, then Yuvraj Singh took over, hitting a four and six off successive deliveries. That six off the third ball went miles, into the stands.
But Mills got the prize wicket, bowled, next ball.
WICKET: Yuvraj Singh b Tymal Mills 62 (27b)
Ben Cutting, the new man, took a single off the next ball. And the over ended with a dot ball. 12 from the over.
Mills' figures: 4-0-31-1.
Over 18 | Score 179/3 | Hooda 14* ; Yuvraj 52*
Aniketh Choudhary, on for his last over, gave Deepak Hooda enough room to swing, and the SRH batsman took the liberty. A huge six was the result.
It was followed by a single, then two wides even as Yuvraj Singh tried to reach to the deliveries. The left-handed batsman then connect the next ball for a four through the cover, for his fifty, off the 23 balls. This is his highest score for the team.
He played the next ball towards the same area, but for a single.
17 runs from the over. Choudhary's figures on debut: 4-0-55-1.
Over 17 | Score 162/3 | Hooda 4* ; Yuvraj 47*
Mills returns. Time to smacl some good boundaries. Just 188 balls to go. And Yuvi carcks it for a boundary. Four yet again. Indeed is a good wicket, big score is waiting for RCB. THAT WAS SURPRINGLY SLOW! Hooda leaves it getting perplxed.
Over 16 | Score 154/3 | Hooda 2* ; Yuvraj 42*
Leggie Chahal comes in and dismisses the Aussie, who tried for yet another six down the wicket. Caught just near the boundary. Sachin Baby yet again, this time at long-off.
Confusion, once again. Off Yuvi's bat and up in the sky. Chahal and Watson goes for it and both leaving it thinking the other would take it.
Outside off, absolutely wide, Yuvi strikes it for a six and Mandeep Singh leaps real high to take it. FAILS, but commendable.
MC Henriques c Sachin Baby b Chahal 52 (37b)
Over 15 | Score 151/2 | Henriques 52* ; Yuvraj 40*
Henriques starts off charging with a four down mid-on. SIX! Again from Yuvi. "He is dangerous"- Kohli. "You dont drop him too many times"
Bowler doesnt know where to actually place the ball. He is hitting both sides. A six from the Henriques and he knocks a fifty. Impressive! 10.11 run rate!
Over 14 | Score 132/2 | Henriques 40* ; Yuvraj 33*
Watson comes back. Welcomed with a similar treatment. Four from Yuvi down mid-on. Crowd still cheering his name. SRH going almost 10 PER OVER NOW.
Over 13 | Score 124/2 | Henriques 38* ; Yuvraj 27*
Outside off, inside edge and goes for a boundary. Called a 'Chinese cut'. Shot from Yuvi. And here is a maximum. From the man, YUVI. Over mid-off region. And then comes a boundary. Thats absolutely fascinating from the left-hander. Aniket is being hammered now. Crowd is going "YUVI, YUVI...." Run rate has soared above nine now. Yuvi cuts the outside off delivery, Mills almost fumbles there at the boundary, but SRH gets a two. RCB misses a classic opportunity to get the big man. Goes for a pull shot, but Aravind misses the chance to take the catch.
Over 12 | Score 106/2 | Henriques 38* ; Yuvraj 10*
Aravind returns. Fine leg has come inside the circle. SRH is now up with their 100. Have to put on a good partnership now. And here a typical-Yuvraj shot. Over mid-wicket, one bounce and four.
Over 11 | Score 98/2 | Henriques 36* ; Yuvraj 4*
Stuart Binny introduced. Has indeed kept up his international fitness, despite just playing domestic cricket. Slow ball, and Dhawan gets a four. And then the opener departs. Goes for the big one over long-on, but good catch from Sachin Baby in the deep. Excellent from the opener though.
Yuvi is the new batsman. Opens uip with a two down square.
S Dhawan c Sachin Baby b Binny 40 (31b)
Over 10 | Score 88/1 | Henriques 34* ; Dhawan 36*
That was an incredible session. Warner departs early, but the duo hammer some quick boundaries to keep the run rate above nine. Of course poor fielding from the RCB team is adding on to their scores too. RCB needs to pull-up their socks.
Aniket returns. The wicket-taker, but did give away 16 in his first over. Punched to the cover by Dhawan, single of it. Good length ball, middle-edged, up in the sky, but....no man there to take it. Saved yet again. RCB needs to do something.
Over 9 | Score 84/1 | Henriques 32* ; Dhawan 34*
Chahal continues. Cheeky bowling, wide delivery but Dhawan volleys it for a two over mid-on. Chahal indeed is going for such delivery to the opener. There are some risky singles from the duo. Nine of the over. Sloppy fielding surely. Strategic time-out now.
Over 8 | Score 74/1 | Henriques 27* ; Dhawan 30*
Travis Head into the attack. Replaces the skipper after that dreadful over. May be. Down the wicket, and the Aussie strikes the big one. Six!
Over 7 | Score 64/1 | Henriques 19* ; Dhawan 27*
That was one real good over for the home team. The two have managed it up for Warner's absense. Chahal back in. Dhawan is surely using this opportunity to get back to the Indian team. Is indeed a destructive left-handed batsman. Sloppy play, overthrow and SRH gets an added single. One cant make such mistakes in T20s where every run counts. Five of the over.
Over 6 | Score 59/1 | Henriques 17* ; Dhawan 24*
Its full house on Match 1. Dhawan now opens up. Presses a boundary down square-leg. And then another down down the wicket. Watson is in trouble. Skipper is getting hammered now. And another. Third of the over. Fourth of the over. Dhawan has set up a carnival of boundaries. This is what the home crowd wants. Single to finish it off. 17 off it.
Over 5 | Score 42/1 | Henriques 17* ; Dhawan 7*
Sreenath Aravind introduced. Dhawan seems to be taking time to ease in. 144 BEST SCORE ON THIS GROUND. Dhawan steps out and whacks, unfortunate to get just a single. Good attacking fielding. Henriques, over mid-on, saved to be caught out. The Aussie seems to be on fire. Finds the fence, behind square, yet again.
Over 4 | Score 33/1 | Henriques 10* ; Dhawan 5*
Chahal introduced. Henriques is on strike now, gets a single of the second ball. Chahal can be destructive, we all remember that T20 match against England. Henriques seems to be looking for quick runs, mixes up and there is a mix up from the fielding team too. Lucky for SRH!
Over 3 | Score 29/1 | Henriques 8* ; Dhawan 3*
Dhawan gets a single off the first ball. Mills with the ball again. Run Rate indeed above 10 now, but that wicket does make a difference. Mills varying pace now. Outside off and Henriques turns it to the square-leg and gets a quick three. Gets two singles of the last two balls.
Over 2 | Score 23/1 | Henriques 4* ; Dhawan 1*
And now Aniket Choudhary opens up the attack. Dhawan gets a single of a backfoot strike to cover. Warner! Volleys it over mid-on and gets another boundary. Thats surely not the place to ball to the skipper.
SRH and IPL 10 gets its first free-hit. Aniket bowls a no ball. Six! Skipper kncks the big one. And now he departs. Sad start for the defending champions. Loose ball, squared shot and Mandeep Singh takes the catch. Last ball travels to the boundary.
DA Warner c Mandeep Singh b Choudhary 14 (8b)
Over 1 | Score 7/0 | Warner 4* ; Dhawan 0*
Skipper Warner is at crease along with Shikhar Dhawan. And debutant Tymal Mills is with the ball. And here is takes a run-up, drifted to the cover, but didn't get a single. Second ball, and there is a confusion whether to take that single. Captain saved! And there is a four. Hammered down square-leg, backfoot punch and he gets a boundary. And there is glimpse of the first IPL, where Brendon McCullum had notched up a magnificient 150 run score. Last ball, and a leg bye.
Umpires out on the field and the players walk in too. All geared up for the IPL season 10 opening match
.@RCBTweets are all set for their match against @SunRisers at Hyderabad #IPL #SRHvRCB pic.twitter.com/ZJGevU4GoS
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 5, 2017
.@SunRisers are warming-up ahead of the first match against @RCBTweets #IPL #SRHvRCB pic.twitter.com/7qiTouzH3d
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 5, 2017
Here are the Playing XIs for Match 1 - @SunRisers vs @RCBTweets #IPL #SRHvRCB pic.twitter.com/XqbvvivwC5
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 5, 2017
SRH XI: D Warner, S Dhawan, B Cutting, M Henriques, Y Singh, D Hooda, N Ojha, B Sharma, B Kumar, A Nehra, R Khan
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 5, 2017
England's Tymal Mills and Afghanistan's Rashid Khan to make their IPL debut
TOSS TIME- Javagal Srinath is the match referee. RCB wins the toss and elects to field
New Delhi: The 10th edition of world's greatest cricket league, the Indian Premier League (IPL), will kick-start today with a glittering grand opening ceremony at the home of defending champions, Sunrisers Hyderebad (SRH).
By virtue of being the defending champions, the Hyderabad-based franchise has been given the honours to host the first match of the season, against the last year's finalists from Bengaluru.
The David Warner-led outfit are buoyant, to say the least. Their only concern is the unavailability of Bangladeshi talent Mustafizur Rahman, who's on a national duty in Sri Lanka. He is slated to join the squad only on Friday.
In contrast, the visiting team will miss skipper Virat Kohli and also the mercurial AB de Villiers, due to injuries. The injury-list is rather frightening for RCB, as they will not have batting mainstay Lokesh Rahul and talented Sarfaraz Khan too.
In such a situation, SRH will start as the obvious favourites.
But T20 cricket is a different beast altogether. And anything can happen with any team, favourites or not. It's only a matter of few overs, or dare we say, few balls which can change the outcome of any contest. And, we have more than enough results to prove that fact.
Overs the years, these two sides have seen some high-scoring matches. In the final last year, SRH set RCB a 208-run target, and won it by eight runs. It was that close.
Earlier in the season, SRH defended 194 by dismissing RCB for 179. Before that, RCB beat SRH by 45 runs after scoring 227.
But, today's match may not put a toll on bowlers, considering how the city was drenched in rain yesterday. An overcast condition has been forecast by the met department.
Here is all you need to know about today's match:
Likely playing XIs:
SRH: David Warner (C), Shikhar Dhawan, Moises Henriques, Yuvraj Singh, Deepak Hooda, Naman Ojha (wk), Chris Jordan, Bipul Sharma, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ashish Nehra
RCB: Chris Gayle, Mandeep Singh, Travis Head, Shane Watson (C), Kedar Jadhav (wk), Sachin Baby, Stuart Binny, Pawan Negi, Yuzvendra Chahal, Tymal Mills, Aniket Choudhary
When and where to watch the match:
Date & Time: April 5 (Wednesday) at 20:00 IST
Venue: Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad.
TV Listing: Sony Six, Sony Six HD, Sony ESPN, Sony ESPN HD and SET MAX.
Online Streaming: Sony LIV.
