3 reasons why RCB's 8-wicket win is their greatest ever vs SRH

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) gave the cricketing world a glimpse of what the side is all about when they comprehensively outplayed SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) in front of a packed house in Hyderabad on May 18th. RCB have kept their season afloat with the win, and if the the performances in this match is anything to go by, the side could well be peaking at the right time.

RCB did not have the best of records against SRH coming into this match, having won only 9 times in the 22 matched they had played. The match on Thursday was a must-win fixture for the Royal Challengers to keep their season alive. SRH have looked hapless right through the tournament and the trend continued despite Heinrich Klaasen’s excellent show with the bat. Match 65 of the 2023 IPL may go down as the best ever win for RCB against SRH and here are some reasons why.

Three reasons why the May 18th win is RCB’s best against SRH in the IPL:

#3 Excellent in the death overs

Siraj was excellent in the death overs

Klaasen was flying, Harry Brook kept chipping in with boundaries and Glenn Phillips was waiting in the wings. Things could have gone pear shaped for RCB, but Wayne Parnell and Mohammed Siraj delivered excellent overs in the death. Parnell and Siraj bowled overs 18 and 20 and conceded seven and four runs respectively, keeping SRH to well below 200. At one point, they were all set to breeze past 200, but Harshal Patel castled Klaasen after the right-hander reached his 100.

Parnell and Siraj then took over and did not allow Brook or Phillips to break free and kept nailing their lengths perfectly. One of RCB’s big woes over the years has been their inabilty to finish well in the death overs, but this was a perfect example of how to contain batting teams.

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#2 Intent never dropped

Kohli was in no mood to let the intent drop

This chase needed to be always in control and even when the pitch gained pace, Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis could not afford to slow down. Kohli has been slowing down after the powerplay this season, but he was in no mood to relent this time.

The SRH bowling attack lacked teeth and this played into the hands of the RCB openers. Kohli was on 29 runs off 19 balls after the powerplay, and then went on to smash 26 runs off the next 19 deliveries. The asking rate was never allowed to go out of hand.

Even when the spinners found some good areas in the middle overs, Kohli broke the deadlock with a slog-sweep, a shot he does not generally play, against the left-arm spinner. This innings was all about intent and never allowing the SRH bowlers to settle down.

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#1 Faf-Kohli take charge and finish the job

Faf-Kohli broke several records

It has been a fascinating season for Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli. They added 171 runs in this match and dominated SRH’s inexperienced bowling attack. In the process, they became the most successful opening pair in a single season. Du Plessis reached his fifty for the eighth occasion in this IPL, while Kohli breezed past his seventh fifty of the season.

Such was the dominance on May 18th that this was only the third occasion when Bangalore emerged victorious while pursuing a target of 185 or higher in the IPL. Their net run rate has now improved and RCB momentarily are in the top four with 14 points to their name after this dominant win.