IPL 2019, RCB vs SRH: Best captaincy move of the day

Sunrisers Hyderabad knew that a win against RCB would almost book their ticket for the playoffs. On the other hand, a loss in this match would have meant that they would have to depend on KKR losing against MI to qualify for the playoffs. RCB, who were already eliminated from the tournament, was playing for the pride.

Earlier, Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to bowl first. The visitors got off to a good start as Wriddhiman Saha and Martin Guptill played some attacking cricket. Then they suffered a mini-collapse losing three wickets for just 15 runs.

Kane Williamson built a decent partnership with Vijay Shankar before the latter was dismissed by Washington Sundar. The young spinner took three wickets on the day, and it was surprising that he did not complete his quota of overs.

The SRH captain kept the scoreboard ticking as he kept losing partners on the other end. Umesh Yadav again failed at the death as he conceded 28 runs off the last over. Kane Williamson scored 70 off just 43 balls as SRH posted a competitive 175 on the board.

Chasing the target of 176, RCB got off to a horrible start. They lost Parthiv Patel, Virat Kohli, and AB de Villiers in the powerplay. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was on fire tonight and another wicket would have meant that it would have almost impossible for RCB to comeback.

This is where Kane Williamson missed a trick as he did not go for the kill. This gave an opportunity to both Shimron Hetmyer and Gurkeerat Mann Singh to settle. The West Indian launched a counter-attack on the bowlers to bring RCB back in the game. Kohli's willingness to send Hetmyer and No.4 and giving him time to settle made a difference to the outcome of the game.

After taking his time, even Gurkeerat came to the party as he started playing his shots too. The pair built together a great partnership of 144 runs to take RCB to the cusp of victory. They suffered a collapse but it was too little too late for SRH. Eventually, it was a comfortable win for RCB as they won by four wickets with four balls to spare.

This win means that RCB are no longer last on the standings as they are above KXIP. On the other hand, SRH would be praying that MI can beat KKR tomorrow in order to progress to the playoffs.