IPL 2018, SRH vs RCB, highlights: Bhuvneshwar's compact bowling ends Royal Challengers' season

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Hyderabad, May 7: Twelve needed off six and big-hitter Colin de Grandhomme on strike. That meant the New Zealander, playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), needed just two balls to get the job done. But bowling to him was Bhuvneshwar Kumar of Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), who notched up two yorkers to challenge de Grandhomme to score a six off the last ball. The right-handed dragged across for space early and Bhuvneshwar changed the yorker to a full toss on the line to end RCB's season at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium here on Monday (May 7).

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The result meant that the Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers do not stand a chance to make the IPL playoffs for the second successive season.

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But the way Hyderabad achieved that result was truly amazing. Kane Williamson's 56 guided them to 146 on a ground that had an average first-innings score of 150. And yet, when the match was very much heading RCB's way, the SRH bowlers defended a low score for the third time this season.

RCB squad | RCB's results this season

It wasn't straightforward either. Virat Kohli (39 off 30) was leading the chase for RCB comfortably. The RCB captain was even dropped on 33 by his counterpart Williamson at first slip. And it seemed all was lost. But Yusuf Pathan stretched and latched onto an edge that carried to gully to give SRH hope after his team dropped two catches.

SRH squad | SRH's results this season

Rashid Khan accounted for AB de Villiers in the 11th over. The Afghani spinner flung two googlies, the second of which did not bounce as much and slid through the defences of the South African.

And while the other RCB batsmen feared Rashid, de Grandhomme actually waited for the Hyderabad leg-spinner to turn up for his last six balls. The Afghan was given a lesson in muscle training. De Grandhomme first jabbed Rashid's googly through deep midwicket and followed it up with another hit in the same area, along the turn of the ball to revive RCB's hopes in the game. The equation reduced to 25 off 18 balls but in the end, Grandhomme couldn't carry his team home.

Opting to field, RCB had the early breakthroughs in the powerplay. Both the openers were sent back within the first six overs. Alex Hales played a lazy shot to a fine ball bowled on the line by Tim Southee. Shikhar Dhawan looked good for a big score, but he pulled one straight to Southee at deep square leg to fall to Mohammed Siraj.

Williamson (56 off 38) played the patient innings again. The captain used the gaps in the field to play timely boundaries, realising that he had to carry the batting through. Shakib (35 off 32), on the other hand, shifted to the top gear soon after coming into the middle. The Bangladeshi's favourite shot was the cut through the backward point. He hit boundaries off Moeen Ali and Colin de Grandhomme through that region.

If that was Shakib's preferred area, Williamson picked the midwicket sector. The loose deliveries came their way quite often anyway. Yuzvendra Chahal, who couldn't find the best lengths, was not spared. Apart from a boundary through the deep midwicket, Williamson also slogged one across the line for a six. Umesh Yadav too flung a full toss, which was packed away into the stands behind the deep fine leg.

But when the time came for him to hit out or get out, Williamson couldn't keep it up. Umesh slipped a knuckleball in. Williamson tried to tuck it through the deep square leg but it only reached as far as Mandeep Singh there. Shakib departed an over late while trying to play the same shot through the square leg off Southee.

Hyderabad had other big-hitters to spare but they were rendered ineffective, thanks to some good work in the field. After dropping many catches in their previous games, RCB tried that extra hard in the outfield to cut down the doubles to a single.

Yusuf did not last long, but towered over Southee in the 18th over. Mohammed Siraj (3/25) picked up two wickets in the penultimate over and Hyderabad were soon desperate for those extra runs in the death.

But they were able to notch up only three runs in the final over. Virat Kohli executed two run outs in that final over by Southee. Sandeep Sharma couldn't make much of the last ball as Hyderabad struggled to make the average first-innings score.
While Hyderabad were looking to score above 150, they still somehow managed to hold off RCB with just 146 on board.