Sunrisers clinch super over victory

Tuesday, 9 April 2013 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Sunrisers Hyderabad rode on the power of Dale Steyn’s experience to pick up their second consecutive win, this one over Royal Challengers Bangalore, after the game had gone into Twenty20 cricket’s sudden death the Super Over.

Steyn had to defend 20 runs, thanks to Cameron White’s two blazing hits off Vinay Kumar, and came out on top as Royal Challengers fell five runs short. Royal Challengers Bangalore 130 for eight (Kohli 46, Ishant 3-27) tied with Sunrisers Hyderabad 130 for seven (Vihari 44, Henriques 2-14) The teams had fought tooth and nail throughout the 40 overs in front of a noisy crowd in Hyderabad. Defending seven, Vinay bowled an impressive 20th over for the second game in a row, conceding only six, but could not repeat the performance in the tiebreaker. He was Virat Kohli’s go-to man after he had defended 10 runs off the last over against Mumbai Indians. The seesaw battle began with Sunrisers staying on top as they restricted the strong Royal Challengers’ batting line-up to 130 for eight in 20 overs. What would have happened to the Royal Challengers’ innings without Kohli and Moises Henriques was hard to say. The pair contributed 90 to the total.

After Chris Gayle fell dramatically to part-timer Hanuma Vihari’s first ball in IPL cricket, and Tillakaratne Dilshan was bowled by Ishant Sharma, Kohli had to resurrect the innings. Karun Nair helped him a little by adding 20 for the third wicket, before Kohli and Henriques put on 43 for the fourth.

Kohli then fell to a return catch by Ashish Reddy in the 14th over; he had struck the only six of the innings in his 44-ball 46.

Henriques’ 44 came off 40 balls with five boundaries, and his innings held it together for Royal Challengers towards the finish. He was the seventh batsman out, at the start of the final over bowled by Ishant, who finished with three for 27.

It was a performance in contrast to the night Dale Steyn had, having finished with one for 37 in four overs.

The Sunrisers’ chase was held together by newcomer Vihari’s unbeaten 44 off 46 balls but he never took the game away from Royal Challengers. He would have expected someone like his Captain Kumar Sangakkara to take the lead but the Sri Lankan batsman made just 16. The game boiled down to such a finish because of a 23-run stand for the seventh wicket between Vihari and Ashish Reddy.

When Reddy joined Vihari in the 17th over, Sunrisers needed 30 off 23 balls. Vinay, who had just heroically run out Amit Mishra, was smashed for 14 in the 18th over, with Reddy slamming a straight six and a slog-swept four. Murali Kartik had to keep Royal Challengers in the game and he gave away seven runs in the penultimate over before Vinay forced the tie. White and Thisara Perera were Sunrisers’ choice for the Super Over, and they outdid Royal Challengers’ Gayle and Kohli.