IPL 2020 Playoffs: SRH beat RCB in thrilling last-over finish to set up Qualifier-2 clash with Delhi Capitals

IPL 2020 LIVE Updates: Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Royal Challengers Bangalore

That is the end of Firstsportz’s live coverage of the Eliminator between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Royal Challengers Bangalore. Join us in two days’ time for the Qualifier-2 match between today’s winners Sunrisers Hyderabad and Delhi Capitals.

Kane Williamson is the Man of the Match: It was a tough game. It was always gonna be against a class side like RCB. With the quality of their batting, restricting them to 132 said 1) we bowled well, 2) it wasn’t going to be easy. It was a challenge to restrict them. We had time, but with two world class legspinners it was never going to be easy. We had to try and get through their spells and they didn’t give us much at all. It was just nice that we could get through their overs without losing too many wickets. You try and do your role as well as you can. Batting at 4, it can vary a lot, and surface dependent. It was nice to spend time and make a contribution, put some partnerships together. It’s been an interesting last two weeks for us. [Holder] is cooler than me! He’s playing beautifully.

David Warner:  As we knew we had to beat top three teams to make it into the play-offs. My nails are ok for the moment. They have been of great impact for us. We like to bowl Sandy and Holder five overs at the top. Then we try to bowl Rashid and Natarajan in the middle overs. Rashid has a lot of pressure on him to perform. Congratulations to Natarajan. Kane is our banker. He manages to stick in there and plays the pressure innings. I am running out of superlatives for these two blokes ( Rashid and KW). With the class of the batting line up, you knew that wicket had something in it. The boys bowled fantastically well in the middle overs. It is too early to say. We obviously have Delhi to play. We have been talking about their world class bowling side. But I am excited.

Virat Kohli: If you talk about the first innings I don’t think we had enough runs on the board. We made one helluva game in the second half, the positions we got ourselves into in the second half.. It is a game of margins and if Kane was taken there then it is a different ball game. Altogether they put us under a lot of pressure in the first innings. Few soft dismissals, few fortunate ones for them as well and we just didn’t have enough runs on the board. Maybe a bit of nerves, maybe a bit of hesitation, we need to be more expressive with the bat. We didn’t have any phases in the game where we got away from the opposition. We just allowed bowlers to bowl to the areas they wanted to and didn’t put enough pressure on them. In the last 2-3 games we have hit it straight to the fielders, lot of good shots going to the fielders. It has been a strange kind of phase in the last 4-5 games.

SRH will now face Delhi Capitals in the Qualifier-2. For RCB on the other hand, it’s the same old story. A season of ups and downs but ending with a down. The trophy just seems to elude them forever. RCB will take heart from some memorable moments throughout the season but on the day and when it mattered, they weren’t good enough.

SRH were clinical with the ball first up. They stifled the RCB batters and kept chipping away with wickets. AB de Villiers was the only one who was fluent but his dismissal at a crucial time courtesy a scorching yorker from T Natarajan cost RCB 15-20 runs towards the end. In the second innings however, RCB came roaring back. The spinners applied the brakes on SRH’s batters. The runs seemed hard to come by. Wickets kept falling in the beginning. But two of the calmest minds in the cricketing world, Kane Williamson and Jason Holder were superb with their composed batting to lead SRH to victory.

What a thriller! After match after match of one-sided affairs, the IPL delivers with a low-scoring thriller for the ages. SRH were in a real spot of bother when the required run-rate was climbing but Kane Williamson ensured it never got out of reach with some assured hitting. He got excellent support from Jason Holder who was the hero in the last over, hitting two fours when 8 was needed from 4. Lovely scenes after Holder hit the winning boundary. A tight embrace between the West Indian national team’s captain Jason Holder and New Zealand national team’s captain Kane Williamson. What a match!

20th Over: Last over coming up! Nine needed. What a thriller! Saini to bowl! Big, big over in his career! Can he pull it off for his side? As long as SRH have Williamson, they will be favorites. Single off the first ball! Fifty for Williamson. Holder on strike now. 8 needed from 5. Dot! 8 needed from 4 now! Holder crunches the 3rd ball for a bullet of a shot to get four. Crucial, crucial boundary! 4 from 3. SRH’s game to lose. Holder carves it away for a four! And SRH have won!

19th Over: Siraj now. Siraj needlessly provides width and gets punished with a four over backward point. It’s getting closer now as RCB are fielding well. Holder is unable to get a brace. 12 needed from 9 now. Williamson scoops the next ball over fine-leg’s head for an easy couple. A crucial dot follows! It’s getting thrilling. Williamson takes a single. Nine needed off the final over.

18th Over: Saini to bowl. He holds the key here. Two huge overs for him. 18th and 20th. Siraj will bowl the 19th. Williamson flicks one to the fence! Is that a six? Has Padikkal saved 5 runs for his side? Yes he has. Stunning from Padikkal. Was a shame he couldn’t come back to catch it. No doubles for SRH. RCB are active on the field. Just singles. Williamson scores a boundary for the ages off the fourth ball. Third man is up in the circle. And Williamson directs the ball with the deftest of touches. Masterful! Genius! Follows that up with a couple. 10 off the over. 18 needed from two.

17th Over: No spin! It’s Shivam Dube with his medium-pace who is introduced into the attack. Big call! SRH are now happy to take the singles off the first few balls. Holder swings one and misses. Williamson finds the gap with a superb cover-drive. 104/4. 28 needed from 3.

Strategic time-out. 35 needed from 4. One over of spin left. Who will it be?

16th Over: Chahal is back for his fourth and final over. SRH happy to just take the singles in this over. Chahal gets away with a ball that should have been a wide. SRH have decided to play out Chahal. No scratch that! Williamson has whacked the last ball for a cracking six.

15th Over: Zampa is back into the attack. SRH treading with caution again against the leggie. 5 singles off the first 5. Make that 6. 87/4 in 15.

14th Over: Washington Sundar is back. The runs just aren’t coming for SRH. The required rate is getting stiffer ball by ball. And Williamson breaks the shackles with a huge six over deep mid-wicket. That should come as a huge relief to SRH. 9 off the over. 81/4.

13th Over: Change in bowling. Moeen Ali now. Williamson is batting on a strike rate of less than 60. He will have to accelerate a bit. RCB are slowly choking SRH. 4 runs off the over. 72/4

12th Over: Chahal once more. The leggies are operating in tandem supremely well. Garg is now trying to get the singles instead of dots. But it’s not proving to be easy.
Wicket! – Garg is gone. He has holed out to Zampa going for a big shot. Poor choice to go for a big shot. Game well and truly on. Disappointing from Garg.
Jason Holder is the new batsman. 68/4 in 12.

11th Over: Zampa continues. Required rate is now 7.37. Garg and Williamson taking time to get their eye in. No boundaries in this over as well. Just 4 off the over.

10th Over: Chahal again. The runs just aren’t coming for SRH. They’ve all but dried up. Just 4 off this one.

9th Over: Zampa now.
Wicket! – And Pandey has nicked one to the wicketkeeper. Good, sharp catch from AB de Villiers. Zampa with an important wicket. SRH in a tricky situation now.
Garg is in now. He hasn’t played a big innings apart from the one he made against CSK. He will have to come good today. Just one run off this one as well.

8th Over: Chahal now. Tight and tidy over. Nothing of note. Cautious play from SRH. 54/2 from 8.

7th Over: Not Chahal. But a similar leggie in Adam Zampa. Williamson gets off the mark of his 7th ball. Tight over from Zampa. Just a solitary run off it.

Strategic time-out time! The match is well poised now. Williamson and Pandey are the key here. RCB need more wickets. They have only spinners to do so. Or a part-time pace bowling option in Shivam Dube. It will have to be Yuvendra Chahal though. He holds the key here.

6th Over: Siraj to continue for his third. He is hit through the offside again for another boundary. And again! Two fours in a row! Huge appeal! It’s Warner! For a caught-behind. Review taken! It’s very very close!
Wicket! – Warner is gone! Excellent review by Kohli and Co. That was a great delivery angling into Warner. And the ball seems to have brushed his glove on its way through to the wicketkeeper. Big blow!
Williamson is the new batsman. And his first ball is nicked off the leg to go to the fence.

5th Over: Will it be spin for the first time in the innings? Yes. It is Sundar and Warner welcomes him with a boundary through the offside. The stumps light up! But it’s neither a hit wicket nor bowled. It was de Villiers who knocked it over by mistake. Umpires are having a chat. It’s a no-ball because of that. Free hit coming up! Just a single off it. Pandey then finds the gap through the offside. Good over for SRH. 12 from it. 35/1 in 5.

4th Over: Saini to continue. Pandey with a risky shot but it sneaks past mid-on to get to the fence. Pandey picking up the pace a bit. RCB need wickets. Pandey carves the offside field for another four. Pandey is counter-attacking here. 23/1 in 4 overs.

3rd Over: Siraj starts with two wides. Kohli is being chirpy as ever. He is pumped. But Pandey pulls one to the fence for a huge six. That should relieve a bit of pressure for SRH. 13/1 off 3.

2nd Over: Saini from the other end. Warner is the key now. RCB seem and are acting pumped in the field today. Kohli is being his vintage mouthy self. Just two off this over as well. 4/1.

1st Over: Siraj to begin. Starts with a wide. A slip in place.
Wicket! – Siraj has provided the perfect start for RCB! Goswami slashes at a delivery outside-off and the ball takes a nick to the wicketkeeper. Goswami gone for a duck!
Manish Pandey is the new man in. Just two off the over

Second Innings: Warner and Goswami to open. Remember no Saha today.

That was another superb bowling performance by the Sunrisers. They were disciplined with their lines and lengths from the very beginning. Holder drew first blood by having Kohli, who had opened the innings, nick one to the keeper. Holder went on to pick 2 more as he removed Padikkal and Dube. Nadeem chipped in with a wicket and Natarajan removed the dangerous AB de Villiers to restrict RCB. None of the RCB batters with the exception of de Villiers came good. The chase will begin in about 10 minutes. SRH will be favorites to ace the chase. RCB will hunt for early wickets. Interesting chase on the cards.

20th Over: Natarajan for his last. Saini gets a four off his second ball as he slashes a good-length delivery through the offside over point. Siraj tried a fancy scoop off the fourth ball and gets a couple. He scoops the next ball for a four past fine-leg. RCB nearing 130. A couple off the last ball to get the score to 131/7.

19th Over: Holder for his last over. Saini and Siraj are struggling here. Just 5 off the penultimate over. One more over from Natarajan to come. 118/7

18th Over: Just 3 overs to go. Can RCB get 150? They must target at least 140 to challenge SRH. Natarajan is in to the attack.
Wicket! – Sundar holes out to Samad on the offside fence. Gone off the Nelson. RCB are falling apart. Only ABD is holding fort.
Saini is the new batsman. ABD mistimes a heave and it falls short of Warner at long-on! Saini struggles briefly but gives the strike to ABD.
Wicket! – T Natarajan nails the yorker and ABD’s middle stump is up rooted. What a ball! What a talent Natarajan is! Wow! ABD is gone for 56. A huge blow to RCB’s hopes. But how good was this from the pacer? Stunning yorker. As perfect as it can get.
Siraj is the new man.

17th Over: Sandeep for his final over. Will de Villiers go berserk here? He hasn’t hit a six yet. Sundar has played four of the six balls in this over. 4 have come off those 4 balls. de Villiers hasn’t found the fence as well. Just 7 off the over. 111/5.

16th Over: Holder comes back. Can he dismiss ABD here? Would be a dream wicket for SRH. RCB will look for 150-160. Excellent fielding from Garg off the third ball once again to save a four.
Wicket! – Dube perishes with a poor shot. The ball takes the leading edge straight to mid-off. 99/5 now.
The strategic time-out has been taken. de Villiers is the key here. He will be the difference between 130 and 150. SRH will well and truly be on top if they can get rid of the South African. Crucial 4.2 overs coming up. Sundar is the new man in. de Villiers gets to a fifty after the time-out with a superb four towards mid-wicket. 104/5 in 16.

15th Over: Rashid Khan for his last over. de Villiers tries to sweep Rashid but plays and misses. Two balls later, de Villiers nails the sweep and hits a boundary. End of Rashid’s spell. 93/4 in 15

14th Over: T Natarajan into the attack. ABD is looking to up the ante here. He smashes Natarajan through the covers for a boundary. Dube is looking a bit shaky here. Natarajan nails a yorker off the last ball but Dube deals with it. 85/4

13th Over: Nadeem. ABD sends the first ball to the fence and Holder is unable to get a hand on that. Another good SRH over. 76/4 in 13.

12th Over: Rashid now. A slip is in for Dube. The left-hander is struggling against Rashid. An appeal for LBW. SRH decide to not take the review and Hawkeye shows the ball hitting the stumps. Just 3 off the over. 68/4.

11th Over: Nadeem again. RCB’s innings moving slowly. These two will look to accelerate.
Wicket! – Aaron Finch has holed out on the offside. He was looking to give room and loft one over the offside and has fallen trying to do it. Nadeem strikes. Simple catch for Samad. 56/3 now.
Moeen Ali now.
ABD edges one for a four. The South African is looking in good nick. And it’s a no ball now from Nadeem! Free-hit coming up.
Wicket! – Run-out off the free-hit! Moeen Ali has hit it straight to Rashid Khan at short cover and the Afghan has nailed the throw. Gone for a duck! Two wickets in the over.
Dube is the new man in.

10th Over: Rashid now. First six off the innings! Finch whacks Rashid through leg-side for a huge six. Tidy over otherwise. 9 runs from it. 54/2.

Strategic Time-out now. RCB’s plan is clear. They’re looking to take the innings deep by preserving wickets and exploding at the death. Let’s see how that turns out.

9th Over: Nadeem again. Spinners working in tandem. Just the singles. No boundaries seem to arrive. Finch is giving a lot of room but is unable to find the fence. 45/2 in 9.

8th Over: Rashid Khan will be introduced, one would expect. Yes, it is the Afghan. Here we go. Rashid vs ABD. Tidy over. Just 2 off it. 39/2.

7th Over: Will it be spin now? Yes, it is Nadeem. Remember Nadeem picked up ABD’s wicket the last time these sides met. Can he do it again? Finch tries to open up the offside by giving room but is not able to find the gaps. Classy over. Just 5 off it. 37/2.

6th Over: T Natarajan into the attack now. RCB are only interested in singles at the moment. Singles off the first five balls. But Finch carves the offside field for a four. 32/2 at the end of the Powerplay.

5th Over: Sandeep for his third. Goswami is coming up for Finch and going back for ABD. Finch gets a boundary towards the offside of the last ball. 23/2 in 5.

4th Over: Jason Holder again. Finch pulls one to the square-leg fence for the first boundary of the day.
Wicket! – Holder picks up another! What a catch from Priyam Garg! Another good length bouncing delivery from Holder. Padikkal pulls and Garg takes a stunning catch. The ball was travelling and Garg timed his jump perfectly to hold on. RCB in trouble now!
AB de Villiers now. These two hold the key – ABD and Finch.

3rd Over: Sandeep to continue with the keeper having come up to the stumps. Brilliant bowling by Sandeep. RCB in a bit of a spot of bother now as the runs don’t seem to come in the Powerplay. Just 1 run off the over! 10/1.

2nd Over: Jason Holder now.
Wicket! – Jason Holder has removed Virat Kohli! Good bouncing ball outside leg-stump and Kohli gloves it to the wicketkeeper. Big big wicket. Kohli’s decision to open has not paid dividends.
Aaron Finch now.
Holder is getting bounce here on this wicket. Excellent bowling. Finch comes down the track to try to heave holder but is beaten by the seam.

1st Over: The Sandeep Sharma vs Virat Kohli battle straightaway! Tidy start. RCB are picking the singles easily. A lot of swing in the first over for Sandeep. 5/0

First Innings: Surprise! It’s Virat Kohli who will open with Devdutt Padikkal! Aaron Finch and AB de Villiers will form the middle order. Interesting!

5 minutes to go for the game to begin. A lot will depend on how good Aaron Finch and Devdutt Padikkal start for RCB. And then the onus will be on Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers to accelerate. A lot of interesting contests to look forward to. Rashid Khan vs de Villiers. Sandeep Sharma vs Virat Kohli. Mouth-watering!

A lot of interesting changes there. RCB have incredibly gone with 4 specialist spinners! They have just two specialist pacers in Mohammed Siraj and Navdeep Saini.

Toss: Sunrisers Hyderabad have won the toss and chosen to field first. The big news is Wriddhiman Saha misses out with injury! Sreevats Goswami comes in his place. Warner hints about dew being a factor in the decision to bowl first. Kohli says he would have bowled as well. RCB have brought in Navdeep Saini, Moeen Ali, Aaron Finch and Adam Zampa in place of Shabahz Ahmed, Isuru Udana, Chris Morris and Josh Phillippe.

The big question remains if Chris Morris and Navdeep Saini will make it to the XI today after picking up injuries in their previous match. Live TV coverage shows Saini having a bowl but there is no sign of Morris. Is that a hint on his availability? We have to wait for the toss to find out.

Pitch Report: “Pretty even sized boundaries on both side with the biggest boundary being 76m. There is some wind blowing towards the ground, there’s a lot of grass coverage on the surface and it should be fantastic for bowling, they should also enjoy the bounce on offer. Overall, it’s going to be a challenging pitch for the batsmen,” says Ian Bishop.

Just about 10 minutes to go for the toss. Teams winning the toss are expected to bowl first. Is there a case for batting first in a crunch game? There is. But it’s unlikely that teams will go for it.

Hello and Welcome to the LIVE Updates of IPL 2020 Eliminator between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Royal Challengers Bangalore, Get all LIVE Updates here.

IPL 2020 Eliminator, Preview: Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Royal Challengers Bangalore

The eliminator match of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 will take place between Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). The Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai will host this game on November 6 (Friday) from 7:30 PM (IST) onwards. The winner of this clash will advance to the qualifier 2 of the season. 

Both the sides won a game each during the two matches that took place in IPL 2020. Firstly, RCB registered a 10-run victory, followed by a 5-wicket win for the Sunrisers. 

Team Preview

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH)

Surpassing everyone, David Warner-led Sunrisers Hyderabad finished at the third spot in the Points Table. Moreover, they registered consecutive victories in their last three matches against the top teams of the tournament. SRH beat Delhi Capitals, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians before reaching the playoffs.

The arrival of Wriddhiman Saha at the top of the innings provided the much-needed balance to the batting unit of Hyderabad. As a result, the Sunrisers will take the field with the same playing XI to continue with their winning combination.

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB)

After occupying second place for most of the tournament, Royal Challengers Bangalore barely managed to make it to the playoffs. Moreover, the Bangalore-based franchise faced consecutive defeats in their last four matches to finish with 14 points in as many games.

The problems of Bangalore don’t end here as they lack a settled playing XI even while going to the playoffs. Also, Chris Morris and Navdeep Saini picked injuries in the last clash that raises a question on their availability.