HYDERABAD : Former cricketer Eoin Morgan said that Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) 35-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 will be a wake-up call for other franchises on how they take on Hyderabad.
While speaking in a channel, Morgan said: “So, I think the way RCB played is, I think, a wake-up call to how the other sides take on the SunRisers.”
The former English skipper said that the upcoming match of the Hyderbad-based franchise against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will be “interesting” just to see can Ruturaj Gaikwad’s side go back to what works for them.
“They are going to go to Chennai next. Obviously, so far at the Chepauk, we have seen really good batting pitches. So it will be interesting to see if CSK go back to what works for them – the CSK squeeze. On a good pitch, we saw what Marcus Stoinis did the other night at the Chepauk in that chase,” he added.
Recapping the match, RCB won the toss and elected to bat first. Skipper Faf Du Plessis (25) and Virat Kohli got the team off to a blazing start in the powerplay. After a slowdown post-powerplay, Rajat Patidar (50) injected life into the RCB’s innings. Virat was dismissed for 51 in 43 balls, with four boundaries and a six and failed to capitalise on his fine start during the powerplay. Despite some quick wickets, cameos from Cameron Green (37*) and Swapnil Singh (12*) took RCB to 206/7 in their 20 overs.
Jaydev Unadkat (3/30) and T Natrajan (2/39) were the top bowlers for SRH. Pat Cummins and Mayank Markande took a wicket each.
In the run-chase, SRH kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Except for Abhishek Sharma (31), none of the previous heroes for SRH, be it Travis Head, Heinrich Klaasen, or Nitish Reddy made an impact. Skipper Cummins (31) and Shahbaz Ahmed (40) did put up a fight, but SRH was skittled out for 171 in their 20 overs.
Green (2/12) and Karn Sharma (2/29) were the top bowlers for RCB. Swapnil Singh also took two wickets for 40 runs. Will Jacks and Yash Dayal also got a wicket each.
RCB is at the bottom of the points table with two wins, seven losses and four points. SRH is at the third spot with five wins, three losses and 10 points. (ANI)