LONDON: Royal Challengers Bangalore were handed a third straight defeat in the Indian Premier League on Sunday at Sunrisers Hyderabad, who hammered the visitors by 118 runs.
The heavy defeat prompted Bangalore captain Virat Kohli to call the result “probably our worst loss ever.”
Kohli might have won the toss, but Hyderabad openers Jonny Bairstow along with Australian David Warner soon made him regret his decision to put the hosts into bat.
The writing was on the wall for the away side after Warner and Bairstow hit a century each, sharing the IPL’s best ever opening stand of 185.
The Englishman hit seven sixes and and 12 fours on his way to his maiden IPL ton, and becoming only the third man from England to score a century in the competition’s history.
It was another strong display from the pair, who are likely to play against each other when England play Australia in the Ashes this summer.
“I’m absolutely cooked,” Bairstow said after his innings.
“He’s great fun, just going ahead with hitting the ball, it was fantastic to bat in the middle with him.”
Warner, who is playing in the IPL after a year-long ban for ball-tampering during Australia’s tour of South Africa in 2017 came to an end last month, added: “The 12 months (off) has done me well. I feel refreshed.”
His and Bairstow’s heroics meant Bangalore faced an uphill task of chasing down a colossal 232 from their 20 overs. But there was little fight in the reply as they were bowled out for a paltry target of 113.
“Difficult one to explain, we were outplayed in all departments by a quality side,” Kohli said.
“This showed why they are former champions and finalists, they batted really well once they got in, and brilliant to sustain intent for the first 16 to 17 overs,” he added.
Kohli’s batting partner AB de Villiers was dismissed cheaply by off-spinner Mohammad Nabi, who took four wickets on debut.
Hyderabad seamer Sandeep Sharma dismissed Kohli for a sixth time since the first season of the IPL — only Ashish Nehra, Bangalore’s current bowling coach, has dismissed the Indian legend on as many occasions.
Despite the embarrassing loss, Kohli was still hopeful of a turnaround in form, saying his team would be aiming to get their first win when they face Rajasthan Royals in their next match.
“We still have 11 games, and things can turn around quite quickly in this league.
“Against Rajasthan Royals, when things don’t go our way, we will have to find ways of winning moments. You need to start well,” he added.
Bangalore managed to reach the IPL final in 2016, a run built on Virat Kohli’s record-breaking 973 runs and magnificent support batting from South Africa’s de Villiers. However, since their defeat in that year’s final, the franchise has struggled and early form suggests it will be another tough season for Kohli and his players.
Virat Kohli slams ‘worst loss’ after Warner and Bairstow lead Hyderabad to 118-run win over Bangalore in IPL
Virat Kohli slams ‘worst loss’ after Warner and Bairstow lead Hyderabad to 118-run win over Bangalore in IPL
- David Warner and Jonny Bairstow hit centuries in IPL's highest opening stand
- Defeat marks third straight defeat for Kohli and his team
Liverpool without Salah beats Inter in Champions League. Barcelona and Bayern win
- Karl became the youngest player to score in three consecutive Champions League games
- Headers by Jules Koundé three minutes apart gave Barcelona a 2-1 comeback victory over Eintracht Frankfurt
After leaving Mohamed Salah in England, Liverpool got a much-needed boost with a 1-0 win over Inter Milan in the Champions League on Tuesday, while Barcelona and Bayern Munich celebrated comeback wins and Chelsea lost.
With Salah out of the squad following his public criticism of the club last week, Dominik Szoboszlai stepped up instead to score the 88th-minute penalty which earned a 1-0 win over one of the competition’s best-performing teams.
It was all the more valuable for coming after a run of one win in six games in all competitions for Arne Slot’s under-pressure team, which moved up to eighth.
Liverpool’s players thought they had taken the lead with Ibrahima Konate’s header in the 31st minute but, after a video review that lasted more than four minutes, it was ruled out for handball as Virgil van Dijk had earlier nodded the ball on to the arm of Hugo Ekitike.
Having taken away a goal from Liverpool, VAR came to the visitors’ aid when it spotted that Alessandro Bastoni had tugged Florian Wirtz’s shirt in the area, with the midfielder flailing to the ground. Szoboszlai converted the penalty.
Bayern’s new star shines
Bayern’s 17-year-old midfielder Lennart Karl produced an audacious bit of skill to continue his high-scoring start to life in the Champions League in a 3-1 win over Sporting Lisbon earlier Tuesday.
Karl scored his third goal in four career Champions League games, controlling a pass from Konrad Laimer in mid-air before volleying a shot from a tight angle over two onrushing defenders and past the goalkeeper.
It was part of a 12-minute, three-goal turnaround for Bayern after Joshua Kimmich’s own-goal handed Sporting the lead after João Simões put Bayern under pressure on the counter.
Serge Gnabry leveled for Bayern when he was left unmarked at a corner in the 65th, before Karl scored Bayern’s second in the 69th and defender Jonathan Tah made it 3-1 in the 77th.
Widely viewed as German soccer’s best young talent this season, Karl became Bayern’s youngest-ever Champions League scorer in October on his first start in the competitions.
Late on, Alphonso Davies came off the bench for the Canadian left back’s first game since March after a serious knee injury.
Chelsea loses
Chelsea was beaten in the Champions League for the first time in nearly three months as Belgium forward Charles De Ketelaere set up the equalizer and scored an 83rd-minute winner as Atalanta came from behind to win 2-1.
Chelsea, which went ahead through Joao Pedro, dropped out of the top eight automatic qualifying spots with its second loss.
It was a fourth win for Atalanta, which climbed to third and is the highest-placed Italian team.
Gianluca Scamacca made it 1-1 by heading home a cross from De Ketelaere, who then drove in a shot that Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez got a hand to but couldn’t keep out.
Koundé drives Barcelona comeback
Headers by Jules Koundé three minutes apart gave Barcelona a 2-1 comeback victory over Eintracht Frankfurt.
Marcus Rashford assisted in the first goal in the 50th and Lamine Yamal in the second in the 53rd.
The visitors had taken the lead with a goal by Ansgar Knauff in a 21st-minute breakaway at the renovated Camp Nou stadium, which still can’t hold full capacity.
Son watches Spurs win
Son Heung-min said a belated goodbye to Tottenham as his former club moved up to ninth after beating Slavia Prague 3-0 on an own goal and two penalties in a game overshadowed by a dispute over moving a rainbow flag showing support for the LGBTQ+ community.
Julián Alvarez scored for the ninth time in his last nine league-phase appearances to lead Atletico Madrid to a 3-2 come-from-behind win at PSV Eindhoven.
Marseille held on for a 3-2 win over Union Saint-Gilloise, whose players and fans twice celebrated what they thought were goals to level the score late on, only for both to be ruled out for narrow offsides on video review.
Folarin Balogun bundled the ball over the line from close range to give Monaco a 1-0 win over Galatasaray.
Olympiakos broke through a determined Kairat Almaty defense to take a 1-0 win in Kazakhstan and boost its hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages. Gelson Martins scored for the Greek side in the 73rd.
