HYDERABAD: Indian spinners Karn Sharma and Swapnil Singh took four key wickets to help IPL’s lowest-ranked Royal Challengers Bengaluru defeat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 35 runs in Hyderabad on Thursday.
Earlier, Faf du Plessis-led RCB won the toss and scored a par 206-7, setting a 207 run target for Hyderabad’s in-form batting unit which has already broken some IPL batting records this season.
Hyderabad could only score 171-8 as RCB registered only their second win in nine games and are still languishing at the bottom of the 10-team table.
Indian batting superstar Virat Kohli hit a slow 43-ball 51 and stitched a 48-run opening partnership with Plessis, who fell after hitting 12-ball 25.
England’s Will Jacks (6) fell early before Rajat Patidar’s explosive 20-ball 50 propelled Bengaluru to 130 in the 13th over, when the rookie batter fell to Indian veteran pacer Jaydev Unadkat.
Kohli fell in the 15th over leaving RCB reeling at 140-4 as their innings lost some momentum and wickets of Mahipal Lomror (7) and Dinesh Karthik (11) by the 19th over.
Australia’s star all-rounder Cameron Green hit an unbeaten 20-ball 37 to provide a final flourish as Unadkat (3-30) and T Natarajan (2-39) finished with five wickets between them.
Hyderabad’s explosive openers, Australia’s Travis Head and Indian rookie Abhishek Sharma, failed to build a partnership Thursday.
Head (1) fell in the very first over of the chase to spinner Jacks and Sharma hit 13-ball 31 before he fell in the fourth over to leave Sunrisers at 2-37.
Bengaluru’s Karn and Swapnil took three key middle-order wickets — Aiden Markram (7), Nitish Kumar Reddy (13), and Heinrich Klaasen (7) — to leave Hyderabad at 5-69 in the eighth over of the chase.
Hyderabad skipper Pat Cummins, who hit 15-ball 31 with three sixes, provided some lower-order flourish before dismissal to national teammate Green, who bowled two tight overs for 12 runs and two wickets.
Hyderabad is still comfortably placed on the third spot in the IPL table and Cummins said that he “won’t dwell on this one too much.”
Winning captain Plessis said that their team had “been close for a while but you need to win matches to get confidence in the group.”
“Massive win for us. When you’re not winning it does affect you mentally, it does affect your confidence,” he added.
“You can’t speak confidence into the group, you can’t fake confidence into the group.”
Spinners help IPL’s lowest ranked Bengaluru defeat Hyderabad
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Spinners help IPL’s lowest ranked Bengaluru defeat Hyderabad
- Faf du Plessis-led RCB won the toss and scored a par 206-7, setting a 207 run target for Hyderabad
- Hyderabad could only score 171-8 as RCB registered only their second win in nine games
Barcelona blitz Athletic Bilbao 5-0 to book place in Super Cup Final
- In a breathtaking 16-minute spell, the Catalans turned uncertainty into complete control, racing into a four-goal lead before the interval
- Raphinha scores a brace with goals on either side of half-time
JEDDAH: It did not look like the easiest opening 20 minutes for Barcelona in Jeddah during their encounter with Athletic Bilbao. Yet in a breathtaking 16-minute spell, the Catalans turned uncertainty into complete control, racing into a four-goal lead before the interval.
More than 50,000 fans packed the Al-Inma Stadium in Jeddah to witness the spectacle, although the likes of Marcus Rashford and Lamine Yamal were rested, allowing opportunities for youngsters like Roony Bardghji and Fermin Lopez.
Lopez would emerge as one of the standout performers of the night. While his threat inside the box was evident, it was his creativity that truly shone in front of the Jeddawi crowd.
Barcelona broke the deadlock in the 22nd minute. A sweeping move from side to side ended with Raphinha finding Bardghji on the right, whose cutback was met by Lopez before being laid off for Ferran Torres to finish calmly for 1-0.
Just eight minutes later, an exquisite backheel from Pedri released Raphinha down the left flank once again, with his low cross this time finding López to double Barcelona’s advantage.
Lopez contributed to his third goal of the night minutes later, this time slipping Bardghji down the right. The Kuwaiti-born winger skipped past Adama Boiro before striking at goal, with Unai Simon mishandling the ball as it trickled over the line.
The Blaugrana showed no signs of slowing down. Raphina finally got on the scoresheet in emphatic fashion with a belter into the top corner in the 38th minute.
To the surprise of many, neither side made any changes at the break. That decision quickly proved costly for Bilbao, as Raphinha struck again early in the second half, once more exploiting space down the flanks to extend the lead to 5-0.
With the contest beyond reach, Athletic head coach Ernesto Valverde rang the changes, making five substitutions to give minutes to his squad.
Barcelona, meanwhile, eased off to conserve energy ahead of Sunday’s final. To the delight of the crowd, both Rashford and Yamal were introduced, with Yamal receiving a warm standing ovation upon his entrance in the 72nd minute.
The emphatic victory marks Barcelona’s second consecutive five-goal display in the Spanish Super Cup, following last year’s 5-2 triumph over Real Madrid in the final.
The second semi-final takes place on Thursday, as Real Madrid face Atlético Madrid, with the winner set to meet Barcelona in Sunday’s final.
