In a thrilling encounter between Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on April 25, RCB emerged victorious by 35 runs. Despite the loss, SRH skipper Pat Cummins remained optimistic, praising his team efforts and emphasizing the importance of sticking to their attacking style of cricket.
“Not an ideal night. Few over par with the ball and unfortunately lost a few wickets throughout our innings. I think it’s our strong suit (attacking style of cricket). It’s not going to work every game. One or two games where it hasn’t gone our way at the start, we still managed to get a good total. Still think this is the way forward for our boys,” Cummins said after the game.
He added, “The boys have been going really well. It’s T20 cricket, you are not going to win every game. Don’t dwell on this too much.”
One of the key factors contributing to SRH success this season has been batting first and posting record-breaking totals. They have broken the record for the highest score in the IPL twice this season. However, luck wasn’t on their side this time as RCB skipper Faf du Plessis won the toss and put SRH to bowl, contrary to Cummins’s preference.
“We were gonna bat first, it seems to be working for us. Before the last few wins, we were thinking that we were a bowl-first team. Didn’t go our way,” Cummins stated.
Despite the loss, SRH remains third on the points table, equal on 10 points with Kolkata Knight Riders and Lucknow Super Giants. On the other hand, RCB stands 10th with four points in the points table.
In the match, RCB Rajat Patidar shone with a brilliant knock, scoring 50 runs off 20 balls with five sixes, while Virat Kohli scored 51 off 43 balls. The RCB set SRH a target of 206 runs. However, SRH’s batting lineup struggled against RCB’s bowling attack, managing only 171-8 in their 20 overs.
Australian Travis Head fell for just one run, and although Abhishek Sharma showed promise, scoring 31 off 13 balls, he too was caught behind in the fourth over. SRH top-order batsmen Aiden Markram and Heinrich Klaasen were also dismissed cheaply, both falling for seven runs each.
Part-time left-arm spinner Swapnil Singh proved to be the tormentor-in-chief for SRH, finishing with figures of 2-40 in three overs.
SRH will be looking to bounce back when they face the Chennai Super Kings on April 28 in their next encounter, hoping to regain their winning momentum in the tournament.