Anyway, thanks all for reading - we’ll be back for more tomorrow.
What a performance from the Sunrisers! They didn’t panic when things started badly, wresting control and maintaining it. And, for all the brilliance of Warner’s hitting, the bowling of Boult in particular, but also Bopara, Bhuvi and Praveen, set up this win; both sides move to one and one.
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Hyderabad win by eight wickets with 1.4 overs to spare!
18th over: Hyderabad 162-2 (Dhawan 50, Rahul 34) AB departs and the rest of it is done in short order. Rahul clobbers four and six from balls one and two - he’s batted superbly - and that’s that.
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17th over: Hyderabad 162-2 (Dhawan 50, Rahul 34) Nechim in, Rahul clunks to cover, and Kohli bends to field, taking a rap on the bone, a real sair yin; that’s something, I guess. They run one, then Dhawan digs one out to cover for another, Rahul adds two more, and look, it’s five wides. Then, after a single, ah, silly AB - chasing the ball as the batsmen amble another single, he opts to use his foot to stop it and treads on the ball, going over on his ankle. Did he never learn long barrier? A further one follows, then a no-ball - they run on it - brings Dhawan onto strike for the free hit. He makes room moving across his stumps, bottom-hands ocver midwicket - that’s 50 - and it’s another no ball, so another free hit. It’s a dot, but that’s now 5 needed off 18 balls.
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16th over: Hyderabad 142-2 (Dhawan 42, Rahul 29) Chahal return - he’s been easily the pick of the bowlers, for all that says. A solid, slow over; seems no one is hungry or thirsty.
15th over: Hyderabad 137-2 (Dhawan 40, Rahul 26) After Rahul takes two to midwicket comes the first boundary for a bit, Rahul stepping back to turn some leg-side filth away fine for four. Ah, here we go again, a leg-bye, a dot, and another short one - Dhawan takes care to not miss out, clouting six over square-leg from outside off.
14th over: Hyderabad 124-2 (Dhawan 34, Rahul 20) It’s deemed safe for Sean Abbott to return, and again, his line is awry - an attempted yorker is leg-side, and wide. And oh dear, there’s another - at least he can draw upon the rich comfort of that pencil mustache. I suppose Hyderabad won’t be mad on needing seven from the last over - I mean, they’d assume to get one - but from here, with so many wickets in hand, they should remove the threat of failure. Oh good, a strategic timeout. “Is this going to be a formality?” asks the Sky host. Er...
13th over: Hyderabad 119-2 (Dhawan 33, Rahul 18) Rahul and Dhawan take a single each as Aaron returns, and he chips in with a wide as the run rate drops towards 6.5. This game is dribbling to a conclusion now; come on something, I dare you happen.
12th over: Hyderabad 113-2 (Dhawan 31, Rahul 15) This time, the boundary comes early in the over, Rahul twinkling down the track to lift four over Chahal’s head; my days, India have some talented kids. Eight from the over, and unless something major happens, Hyderabad are going to win.
11th over: Hyderabad 105-1 (Dhawan 29, Rahul 9) Sammy returns to bustle throw some deliveries, and Rahul turns him away for two to square-leg. Then, after a single, Dhawan knocks him down the ground for another, and they take on De Villiers adding another - he picks the ball up with remarkable litheness, shies and just misses. Already, this is already more or less a perfect over from Hyderabad in the circumstances, and that’s even before another single and a four, pulled over midwicket by Rahul.
10th over: Hyderabad 94-1 (Dhawan 27, Rahul 1) Hyderabad’s middle order is not intimidating - lot of responsibility on Dhawan now.
WICKET! Williamson st Karthik b Chahal 5 (Hyderabad 94-2)
Well, this is interesting. Williamson is well forward, to sweep, misses, and excellent work from Karthik removes the bails in a trice.
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10th over: Hyderabad 94-1 (Dhawan 27, Williamson 5) Williamson is in nae rush, knocking the ball around easily enough - and then what’s this?
9th over: Hyderabad 90-1 (Dhawan 25, Williamson 3) Kohli brings Patel back to try and pressurise the batsmen, but he strays onto Williamson’s pads and finds himself clipped to fine leg for four. Or so it looked - the signal is for leg-byes. And Patel soon does it again, dropping short too - but Dhawan misses out. The question, I guess, is whether these two assume they’ll stay in, so just knock the runs off - a run rate of 6.98 permits it - or keep motoring.
8th over: Hyderabad 83-1 (Dhawan 24, Williamson 1) Now things look different, but not that different. Hyderabad don’t have loads of batting after this, but this is quite a this.
WICKET! Warner lbw b Chahal 57 (Hyderabad 82-1)
Oh, well bowled! Chahal keeps the heid, tossing one up that dips and turns just enough for Warner to miss it. It hits him on the back pad, though he doesn’t like the call; looked out to me.
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8th over: Hyderabad 82-0 (Warner 57, Dhawan 24) Here comes Chahal’s leg-spin - he has an excellent googly, we’re told, a delivery that was extremely effective yesterday. But Chahal’s second ball is short, and off it goes over long leg for his fourth six.
7th over: Hyderabad 73-0 (Warner 50, Dhawan 22) Well, er, Darren Sammy is that, or is the first of those things. Warner takes a single, then Dhawan does, and then Warner - this brings up his fifty, off 24 balls. Next, Dhawan, who’s been uncharacteristically deferential so far, reminds us who he is, a check drive through cover speeding fencewards, and that’s eight off the over, the required rate now 7.23.
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6th over: Hyderabad 65-0 (Warner 48, Dhawan 16) Bangalore need something forthwith, but instead, Nechim decides to test Warner with a short one. Oh. It disappears over long-on. Time for a time-out, and Bangalore had best come up with something; ideally several things.
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5th over: Hyderabad 58-0 (Warner 41, Dhawan 16) Warner soon makes amends for his unforgivable incompetence, rattling Aaron’s first ball over his head and then crunching the next, short affair down to square-leg. My days, this is a ridiculous talent - and personality too, because not everyone has the wit to do this: an uppercut slap, flat over third man, for six!
4th over: Hyderabad 43-0 (Warner 26, Dhawan 16) Nechim is introduced to attack, and there’s brief excitement when Dhawan cuts a bump ball into the hands of point. Then, after a single, a shorts one seems right in Warner’s zone, but to his intense consternation, he mishits and picks out the man at midwicket. Better over for Bangalore.
3rd over: Hyderabad 41-0 (Warner 25, Dhawan 15) Bangalore try Aaron, and what’s this? A dot! Of this, Dhawan is having none, and he strokes the next delivery through point - a full-toss - for four. In the break between innings, Bopara said the ball was wet and hard to grip, but even so, this bowling hums of abjectivity. There follows a break while gentlemen pound sods into footmarks, and Aaron finds a jaffa, an inswinging yorker with a perfect seam that Dhawan digs out while overbalancing. But he follows it up with a wide full-toss - Dhawan is down on one knee to to drive and it looks four all the way, only for De Villiers to dive headlong at point and insert a wrist in its road.
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2nd over: Hyderabad 36-0 (Warner 25, Dhawan 10) Harshal Patel from the other end, and after Dhawan flips a single to midwicket, he strays leg-side and Warner clumps over the infield for for to square-leg. Then, next ball, he batters straight back past the bowler - the umpire has to duck - and it’s four more. And then we see the thing with Warner - it’s just so hard to know where to bowl to him, Patel trying to go fuller and wide and going wide. Gosh, and there’s another full toss, thunked down into the pitch and skidding away for another boundary, followed by a further gimme, on the pads and short - Warner wastes it over square-leg for six. 20 from the over. 25 off ten for Warner.
1st over: Hyderabad 15-0 (Warner 7, Dhawan 8) Looking for the yorker, Abbott’s first ball swings, but doesn’t bounce, and Warner cracks it for four through cover with minimum fuss and maximum prejudice. Then, after a two and a one, Dhawan punches his first ball to the cover fence too - what a shot that is, barely any backlift required. And, with Abbott going around to the left-hander, he angles into the pads and it’s whipped through midwicket like it’s nothing, which, in the circumstances, it is not, if it’s possible for something to be nothing.
Sean Abbott prepares to open for Bangalore...
Bangalore were 93-2 off 11, but managed to lose their last six wickets for 41 runs. Hyderabad will fancy themselves to get this; should get this.
WICKET! Nachim b Bhuvi 4 (Bangalore 166 all out)
Another excellent delivery, middle stump yorker, Nechim without the tools to defend. What a performance from Hyderabad!
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WICKET! Aaron b Bhuvi 6 (Bangalore 165-9)
This is much better! Yorker, middle stump, clatter, splatter.
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20th over: Bangalore 165-8 (Nechim 4, Aaron 6) Bhuvi starts with a dot, but then Aaron eases down the track, gets low, and wallops a half-volley slower ball for six over long-off.
19th over: Bangalore 159-8 (Nechim 4, Aaron 0) Nechim drives four through third man, but his team need plenty more of that to feel competitive.
WICKET! Patel c Williamson b Boult 2 (Bangalore 155-8)
It’s not a hatty, but Boult won’t mind, and nor will anyone supporting Hyderabad. This over, three wickets in it, might just be the game’s crucial one. Patel swings, slices high, and Williamson slides underneath to catch. What an over!
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WICKET! Abbott c Sharma b Boult (Bangalore 152-7)
For the second time this innings, wickets in consecutive balls. Abbott goes to swipe cross-batted - hard to know to where - slices, and lifts a catch to point.
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WICKET! De Villiers c Dhawan b Boult 46 (Bangalore 152-6)
Trouble for Bangalore! De Villiers goes to slog-sweep, top edges, and Dhawan, the sweeper, catches at cover.
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19th over: Bangalore 152-5 (De Villiers 46, Abbott 14) Boult has the ball as we learn that the 19th over is important, and very soon it’s been rinsed from outside off-stump to square-leg, two fielders converging, diving into each other as the ball passes between then them for four.
18th over: Bangalore 148-5 (De Villiers 42, Abbott 14) Bangalore will want another 50, as Praveen returns and the hypeman urges the crowd to chant “ABD, ABD”. The man misses out on a leg-side delivery, cursing himself when a bye is all they gain, but a full toss on the kneeroll makes it easy to Abbott to lift six over midwicket. A two follows, and then two dots, but the final ball is overpitched and wide, duly clattered to the point fence.
17th over: Bangalore 134-5 (De Villiers 42, Abbott 3) Bhuvi’s back, and cedes singles from two of his first three balls; he’ll like that. Next, AB drives into the ground directly in front of him and they’re forced to add another, then another; Bangalore are desperate for a boundary. And De Villiers tries to manufacture one from a wide one, but can’t reach - though quite why Bhuvi bowled there remains unknown, given a leg-side field. And he does it again, his final delivery wide of off, and it’s lashed through cover to the fence.
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WICKET! Sammy b Reddy 9 (Bangalore 125-5)
This is a good ball, bouncing a bit more than previously, and Sammy presses forward, realises he’s misevaluated the length, goes back, misses what he now knows to be a yorker with an almighty swing, and gone. Let’s explore strategy.
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16th over: Bangalore 125-4 (De Villiers 36, Sammy 9) Reddy is on, and De Villiers cuts two, then forces two more down to square-leg - they run them really well. No need for that next ball, though, down on one knee, slog-swept to cow long-leg; he just had so long to pick his spot, and uses his crease so well that he could’ve put that anywhere on the leg side.
15th over: Bangalore 114-4 (De Villiers 25, Sammy 6) Sharma gets one to skid on at Sammy, and he only just digs it out, then top-edges one to short midwicket - where no one is. Just for from the over, at this stage, and with these two in, is a minor triumph; the target ought now to be chaseable, whatever it winds up being.
14th over: Bangalore 110-4 (De Villiers 24, Sammy 4) The hat-trick ball is on the money, but Sammy waits and sees it away for a single to midwicket. De Villiers then moves off-side, the ball goes there too, and he laps a sweep around the corner for four, the outrageous man. Next, a single each, and De Villiers miscues a swat - Dhawan is underneath it, takes it, has no option but to step over the boundary, and for some reason, doesn’t drop it back in play. Six.
13th over: Bangalore 97-4 (De Villiers 11, Sammy 2) Good over from Sharma, or good time to bowl, just six runs from the over - Bangalore can’t really be losing any more wickets for the next bit.
WICKET! Shamra c Warner b Bopara (Bangalore 91-4)
This is a pearler! Sharma’s forward and gets a leading edge, but then Warner, at short, mid-off, leaps right, hangs, hangs on one-handed, and Ravi’s on a hatty!
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WICKET! Kohli b Bopara 41 (Bangalore 91-3)
This isn’t meant to happen to Virat. How dare this! He makes room to cut Bopara, deep in his crease, misses, and loses his off-bail.
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12th over: Bangalore 93-2 (Kohli 41, De Villiers 11) Bopara’s back, and he starts with a slower ball, but it doesn’t mither AB, who generates all the pace himself to cut like billy-o through cover. oh, and oh, look, oh, there’s four more, outside-edged through slip.
11th over: Bangalore 84-2 (Kohli 41, De Villiers 2) A single each, and then Kohli absolutely canes one to long-off for a one-bounce four.
WICKET! Karthik c Williamson b Sharma 9 (Bangalore 77-2)
Karthik goes to sweep, instead top-edging a fuller one high into the air - the catch, taken at point, is an easy one.
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10th over: Bangalore 77-1 (Kohli 36, Karthik 9) Kohli dances down the pitch from leg-stump to Praveen’s first ball, ramming over cover for four. Then, next ball, he’s onto the length so quickly, a tiny hop down after going deep into the crease, smoking six over midwicket. What a shot that was, what a player he is. Incidentally, Steyn’s been messing with the telly cameras; apparently, this is both hilarious and fascinating.
9th over: Bangalore 65-1 (Kohli 25, Karthik 8) Sharma into the attack, and his first ball’s too straight, Karthik carting it to long-on, where Boult slides to save. Then, some turn on middle-and-leg has Kohli back and then down the pitch, eventually inside-edging back to the bowler - he drops when he shouldn’t, and can’t salvage, missing with the second grab. Still, just six from the over.
8th over: Bangalore 59-1 (Kohli 21, Karthik 6) Another snaffled single, Kohli diving to ensure that he’s in, even if Williamson hits, which he does not. The commentators drone on about some viewing area or other sponsored by some soft drink manufacturer or other, so, in the interests of balance, here’s a favourite jingle from the mid-90s. Excellent over, just two from it, so we have a time-out during which everyone will revolutionise the game. Back with you soon!
7th over: Bangalore 57-1 (Kohli 20, Karthik 5) Here’s Ravi! And he begins with one that whooshes leg-side - the keeper should grab it, doesn’t, and that’s five wides. He’s a hustler! Suddenly, with Gayle out, Bangalore are running between the wickets nabbing ones, looking for twos, and there’s at least a hint that brakes might be applied.
6th over: Bangalore 47-1 (Kohli 17, Karthik 4) Karthik gets off the mark with a four to fine-leg.
WICKET! Gayle c Reddy b Praveen Kumar 21 (Bangalore 43-1)
Kumar gives Gayle one on the pads and he whips it away hard - but directly to the fielder on the square-leg boundary.
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6th over: Bangalore 43-0 (Gayle 21, Kohli 17) Praveen into the attack, and Gayle inside-edges him for four - it looks like a crunching drive, though.
5th over: Bangalore 39-0 (Gayle 17, Kohli 17) Boult continues, and strays marginally with his first ball, a modicum too full on off-stump. Virat Kohli doesn’t discriminate, attacking it as viciously as he would a far worse one, finessing six over long on, and then, after a dot and a wide, advances to create a full-toss, flicking four more through midwicket. Boult then beats him outside off, but it earns him nisht, and Hyderabad badly need a wicket.
4th over: Bangalore 28-0 (Gayle 17, Kohli 7) Gayle leaves one that shapes across him, so Bhuvi, seeking a wicket, tries something different, giving him one outside off. He absolutely batters it with the kind of warm, hollow, percussive sound you’re meant to get off those oddly-shaped instruments at primary school.
3rd over: Bangalore 23-0 (Gayle 13, Kohli 6) Two dots have Kohli swiping across the line, and he misses, the ball bouncing rising over the stumps - but only just. Then, an inswinger hits the pad inside of the front foot - it looks an excellent shout - but the umpire says no. Just three from the over, two of them wides.
“Do many of the IPL sides pick two overseas players as out and out bowlers?” asks Kevin Wilson. “I think you can pick one of Steyn and Boult. I’d still pick Steyn though. Bopara’s not a terrible choice with that in mind. He’ll bowl you four decent overs. Batting Williamson at six is crazy though.”
I’d reckon most overseas players are batsmen. Steyn is a risk in a way - his pace might see him go - but more than Bopara? I’m not sure. Williamson is at three today.
2nd over: Bangalore 20-0 (Gayle 13, Kohli 5) It’s Bhuvi from the other end as the tunes pump out like Danny is it pumping yes it’s pumping Rampling. Kohli defends the first ball, then pastes the next through cover for four, even though it shapes away, before, following a single, Gayle crunches a flamingo drive through the same area - midwicket for him.
1st over: Bangalore 11-0 (Gayle 9, Kohli 0) Gayle edges the first delivery to third man and deigns to run a single, then a leg-side wide - they run on it too - precedes a jaffa, shaping away. The boundaries here look very short, especially straight, and there we are, Gayle pounds a half-volley high into the stands, dead straight; his swing makes the air experience carnal excitement. And he goes again next ball, slicing high and square on the off-side - it beats the field, but plugs close the boundary and they run two.
Trent Boult will open the bowling. Good luck, mate.
The players are ready - Gayle is rehearsing violence.
Oh, and Eoin Morgan isn’t playing. How! Why!
This leaving out Steyn; odd though it seems, understandable if he’s deemed a risk in the format. But then why sign him?
I for one am fascinated by Mark Butcher’s holiday tales.
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For all the fuss it’s impossible to avoid making about Bangalore, Hyderabad - though there were mullered in their first game - are not without class. It’s not that easy to see them restricting Bangalore to a low total, though, so one of their top-order monsters will need to come off.
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Teams in full.
Bangalore: CH Gayle, V Kohli*, KD Karthik†, AB de Villiers, Mandeep Singh, DJG Sammy, SA Abbott, HV Patel, YS Chahal, AN Ahmed, VR Aaron.
Hyderabad: DA Warner*, S Dhawan, KL Rahul, NV Ojha†, RS Bopara, KS Williamson, A Ashish Reddy, KV Sharma, P Kumar, B Kumar, TA Boult.
And finally: Reddy and Kumar replace Ishant and Rasool.
Other team news: Kane Williamson will bat at number three
David Warner also reports that Hyderabad again leave out Dale Steyn. Er, ok. I mean, I like Ravi and all, but, er, ok.
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“Are you ready to make some noise?” inquires a windswept Rameez. Hyderabad win the toss, and will bowl. This seems to be the safer option - knowing what you need to do - though David Warner also reckons the pitch will offer help early on
In polite society, the infliction of humiliation is generally frowned upon. Not so in beautiful sport - it’s more humiliating to be deliberately spared humiliation than it is to be humiliated. And, in any game involving Gayle and De Villiers - to say nothing of Virat Kohli, apart from saying Virta Kohli - humiliation is very much on the agenda; lets hope so.
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Preamble
Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers.
