RCB vs SRH | Bengaluru falter late after threatening to upstage Kishan mania as top-two hopes slip

‌Asked to bat first in Lucknow, Travis Head (17 off 10) and Abhishek Sharma (34 off 17) got Sunrisers Hyderabad off to one off their typical audacious starts, signalled through 18 runs off Bhuvneshwar Kumar's very first over. Even though the duo departed in the space of three balls, the stage had been set with 54 runs coming in the first four overs. Ishan Kishan and Heinrich Klaasen simply built upon the foundation to make the powerplay score read a healthy 71/2, the duo sending Suyash Sharma to the cleaners across two overs in a rapid 48-run stand even though the spinner had the last laugh by dispatching the Proteas for 24. Suyash still had little respite though as now Aniket Verma slammed him for 19 runs in his next over, while Ishan kept plundering boundaries for fun at the other end. Krunal Pandya eventually got the better of Aniket after his nine-ball blitzkrieg of 26, paving the path for a brillaint two-over spell from Romario Shepherd that only went for 14 as well as brought the wickets of Nitish Kumar Reddy and Abhnav Manohar. Nevertheless, Ishan stuck around still, and an upsurge at the death saw him end unbeaten on 94 off 48 to help set RCB 232 to chase. 

In response, RCB got off to an absurd start with Phil Salt struggling for rhythm and Virat Kohli playing aggressor. However, it all worked out well when Salt finally got going after being stuck on 10 off 11, and the duo stitched together 80 runs in just seven overs before Kohli caught out off Harsh Dubey. Salt responded with a four and a six the very next over and eventually brought up a 27-ball fifty. The Englishman seemed set to continue going big even after Mayank Agarwal succumbed for a strugglesome 11, but Pat Cummins had his rival hole out for 62 with RCB still needing 94 off the last eight overs. Skipper Rajat Patidar walked in as the Impact Player and threatened to set the stage alight with an early four, only to end up teetering to 18 in 16 deliveries until Eshan Malinga ran him out with a brilliant direct throw. Jitesh Sharma's cameo of 24 had more substance, yet his wicket in the 17th over left the others too much to do. Tim David's wicket eight deliveries later pactically sealed the encounter, and SRH eventually ran-managed to bowl out their rivals for 189 with a ball still remaining.