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The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) kept their playoff destiny in their own hands following their eight-wicket win over SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Thursday, May 18.
A stunning ton from Virat Kohli, along with yet another half-century from Faf du Plessis, lifted Bangalore to a comfortable win in their chase of 187. With the win, RCB moved into fourth place in the standings and will know exactly what they need to do to qualify when they take on the Gujarat Titans (GT).
Here are two mistakes and one masterstroke made by RCB in their IPL 2023 match against SRH.
#3 Mistake - RCB won the toss and elected to chase
Ahead of the game, the numbers suggested that the better option was to bat first. Four of the last six encounters at the venue had been won by the team batting first, but Du Plessis won the toss and elected to chase.
Despite it being a pressure game, the RCB skipper went against the grain. Although the move eventually did pay off, it needed special innings from the openers to take the team across the line.
The pitch held a touch in the second innings, with Mayank Dagar and Abhishek Sharma extracting some turn and keeping a tight leash on the batters when they pitched it in the right areas. Rotating strike wasn't the easiest, and the required run rate was never out of SRH's reach even though they were unable to find breakthroughs.
The decision to bowl first could've easily backfired.
#2 Masterstroke - The Bangalore openers showed incredible intent in the powerplay
The main reason why RCB were able to exert control over the middle overs was their openers' incredible intent in the powerplay. Kohli set the tone by smacking consecutive fours off Bhuvneshwar Kumar to get the innings underway, and he and Du Plessis never looked back.
All the SRH bowlers were attacked in the first six overs, which produced 64 runs for the away side. After setting such a platform, they could afford to smack it around in the post-powerplay phase without much fear. RCB had the required run rate firmly in sight right from the outset, leading to total command over the chase.
We've seen the Royal Challengers start a little tentatively sometimes in pressure games, but this wasn't one of them.
#1 Mistake - Faf du Plessis introduced Shahbaz Ahmed at all the wrong times
Shahbaz Ahmed was one of RCB's most expensive bowlers on the night, even though he prised out the wicket of Aiden Markram. Part of that was because of his inconsistency, but he also wasn't put in a position to succeed.
Shahbaz sent down one over in the powerplay and another towards the end of the SRH innings, with Heinrich Klaasen taking him down with ease. The South African batter, who has an excellent record against left-arm spinners, was always going to feast on spin at those stages of his innings.
Even Harry Brook got in on the act later, with Shahbaz leaking 38 runs in his three overs. Bangalore clearly didn't learn from their failed move to bowl Shahbaz to Jason Roy earlier in the season. This time, however, they managed to end up on the winning side.
