RCB took on SRH in their first encounter in this year’s IPL. Fans were raring to see King Kohli step onto the field alongside Mr 360 – Ab de Villiers. David Warner’s SRH won the toss and put RCB in on a Dubai wicket that had been used a night before. Young sensation Devdutt Paddikal came out to bat alongside the experienced Aaron Finch, and all eyes were on the young man from Bengaluru.
There had been so much talk about left handed Padikkal. Having seen him bat in his early days at KIOC, I had seen the hype this kid had created around our academy. Even then he showed glimpses of having something special as he played crisp strokes in our net sessions. And he did not disappoint when he came out donning the RCB red as he took on Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Sandeep Sharma with utmost ease, while his experienced partner at the other end looked to be struggling. With shots all across the ground, Paddikal looked in complete control ; middling everything that came his way. He soon raced to his maiden IPL 50 – which came up in quick time.
Debutant Devdutt Paddikal confiidently pulling Sandeep Sharma over midwicket.
RCB looked to have started really well, as they were 86 for no loss at the half-way point. It was then that the debutant perished to a straight delivery from Vijay Shankar. That put the breaks on RCB’s momentum a little bit, as they could get only 40 in the next 6 overs, despite two heavyweights Kohli and de Villiers being at the crease. After Kohli’s dismissal, De Villiers took charge and took on the SRH bowlers – and looked like the AB we all know. The highlight of that phase of the game has to be those 2 back to back beautiful sixes over cover against Sandeep Sharma, one of which was off the back foot!
Mr. 360 was on song – a sight to behold.
After a few big overs with the bat, RCB ended up with 163/6, which has been the par score in Dubai – and looked defendable. The only problem was that with due coming in – RCB’s spinners could prove ineffective.
SRH’s run-chase started with David Warner creaming Dale Steyn through the covers 2 times in a row. The confidence with which the SRH skipper started his innings made it look as though he would take the game deep. But he fell soon after that as an unlucky dismissal saw the back of him – getting run out at the non striker’s end off the bowler’s hand. Manish Pandey came in and solidified the innings alongside Yorkshire man Johnny Bairstow, and the more they played the better they looked. The next wicket fell at 89 – Yuzvendra Chahal picking up his first for the night.
It was the 16th over that completely changed the course of the proceedings. 43 was needed off 30 balls, and anyone would say that SRH, who bat deep – have their noses in front. But it took only 2 beautiful deliveries from leggie Yuzi Chahal to turn the game on its head. Two consecutive balls above the eyeline of the batsmen saw the back of set Johnny Bairstow and Vijay Shankar. The next over saw another two wickets – Garg and Sharma being dismissed in bizarre fashion. It doesn’t stop there – the over after that saw another two wickets!
A strange collision caused a runout and dismissed SRH’s young Abhishek Sharma.
SRH were in disarray as their middle order completely collapsed. They went from being 121/2 at the start of the 15th to 153 all out with 2 balls to spare. Saini and Dube looked terrific at the end, both holding their nerve and delivering. RCB clinched the game by 10 runs, and started their IPL on a winning note. This is something the fans aren’t used to seeing, and they would hope that this title-starved team can go on to change their fortunes in the games ahead. Till then, we can sit back and enjoy the wonder that is the Indian Premier League.
-Vibhor Dubey
The Average Cricketer 