Keeping upto their reputation, the Sunrisers Hyderabad bowlers managed to restrict Royal Challengers Bangalore from surpassing 146 in match 39 of the Indian Premier League in Hyderabad.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar defended 12 off the final over to help SRH win the game by 5 wickets als top the points table. With 16 points in their kitty SRH also become the first team to qualify for the knockout stages of the tournament.
Earlier, batting first SRH got to 146 off their 20 overs with Kane Williamson scoring an important 56. Shakib Al Hasan was the only other key contributor as the RCB bowlers managed to restrict their opposition under 150.
Chasing 147 for victory, Parthiv Patel gave RCB a quick start scoring a quickfire 20. Virat Kohli was looking good from the moment he came out to bat after Parthiv's wicket. He got an early life from his opposite number Kane Williamson who dropped him early on in his innings. But as the case is with the SRH bowlers, they pulled things back during the middle overs by taking key wickets.
First Shakib dismissed Kohli in the 10th over of their innings. Rashid Khan then came back to dismiss AB De Villiers in the very next over to break the backbone of the RCB chase. Mandeep Singh (23) and Colin De Grandhomme (33) tried their best to take RCB over the line, however, some terrific death bowling from the Sunrisers bowlers denied them a much-needed victory. This defeats pegs them further in the tournament, however, they are still in with a mathematical chance to qualify for the knockouts.
Twitter was all praise for the Sunrisers bowlers who just seem to defend everything that's coming their way. As a group, they are performing fabulously under pressure and this was what Twitter credited them duly for. Here are some of the best tweets hailing the Sunrisers bowlers.
Fabulous, fabulous last over from Bhuvi. Top class. Shows why he is special
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) May 7, 2018
Incredible defence of modest score by SRH. RCB were in game till last over but... Outstanding bowling at death by Kaul & Bhuvi. Hats off!
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) May 7, 2018
How do they do it? @SunRisers so impressive. Great leadership, great coaching staff & exceptional bowling unit. ???????????????? #SRHvRCB #VIVOIPL2018
— Lisa Sthalekar (@sthalekar93) May 7, 2018
हैदराबाद ने मिथ तोड़ दिया है कि टी 20 बल्लेबाजों का क्रिकेट है ! ये साबित किया है कि ये गेंदबाज़ों का भी उतना ही है !
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) May 7, 2018
एक लाइन में कहें तो ये क्रिकेट का इंसाफ है . बराबरी लायी है हैदराबाद टी20 में #SRHvRCB
Showcase death bowling by #SRH, Yorker execution at its best by Bhuvi #SRHvRCB #IPL2018 #BadriBytes
— subramani badrinath (@s_badrinath) May 7, 2018
How good is this sunrisers bowling line up as I said before they become LETHAL after Sunset... Incredible effort.. Brilliant Bhuvi #SRHvRCB
— Kartik Murali (@kartikmurali) May 7, 2018
That was a sensational display of bowling from @BhuviOfficial ! @SunRisers have pulled off another game with the help of some brilliant bowling display. Well done????????#SRHvRC
— R P Singh (@rpsingh) May 7, 2018
A huge shout out to the think tank that sat down and hand picked this champion bowling line up @VVSLaxman281 @TomMoodyCricket and Murali. They are reaping the benefits as a result of that now. 5 wins in a row for the @SunRisers #SRHvRCB
— Hemang Badani (@hemangkbadani) May 7, 2018
#SRH can defend the indefensible ???????? take a bow ????♂️ and how smart is Kane’s captaincy!!! #SRHvRCB #IPL #ApnaTukkaBhiLaga ????
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) May 7, 2018