In this IPL2020 Eliminator Match between the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), the SRH team won by 6 wickets. This win was a contribution by Kane Williamson, who was on an unbeaten 50, and the cameo of Jason Holder. The pursuit was for 132 runs and Williamson with 50 and Holder with 24, managed 65 runs. They chased the target with two balls to spare.
Jason Holder and Kane Williamson:
These two players, Jason Holder and Kane Williamson, could absorb all the pressure put by the RCB team and really perform. When they walked in to bat, the asking rate was 10. Even then, they finished off the game with calm and poise, with 2 balls to go.
This was the 4th straight win for the SRH team in a ‘must-win’ game and this was also the 5th straight loss of the RCB team after they had started off extremely well in this season.
AB Villiers plays himself in:
In the 4th over, Villiers had to eschew any risk. He hit his first boundary only after 20 balls and reached a run a ball. Finch had to take the pressure off but this worked out to be a struggle. It seemed he was struggling to adjust to the pace at the surface and was actually stifled by the accuracy of the SRH team bowlers. There were only 4 boundaries in the first 10 overs.
The RCB team was 62 runs for 4 overs in the initial 10.4 overs.
The Masterclass of AB Villiers loom:
Between the chase and the SRH team, was the genius, Villiers. He was just entering the genius phase of the innings with 1 edged boundary and 20 runs off 22 balls. He managed to make 36 off the next 21 balls, but the SRH team was excellent. Washington Sundar and Shivam Dube bowled 19 balls without giving any boundaries.
The RCB team were 111 for 5 wickets in 17 overs.
The Coming Together of the Test Captains:
When there was a requirement of 64 runs off the last 8 overs, in came Williamson and Holder. These two are considered to be 2 of the calmest players in international cricket. These 2 players are used to carrying their sides with them.
They kept on taking singles, not worried at all about the asking rate. Finally, Virat Kohli had to take the spinners off. Williamson tried hitting his first boundary when they required 59 runs off 38 balls. This took him to 19 off 25.
The leg spinners were brought back and once more there were no more boundaries. The slog sweep was out again and when Chahal overpitched, Williamson reached to one run for every ball. Kohli went back to pace.
Siraj and Navdeep Saini took a risk and bowled yorker’s, but this did not stop Williamson.
The last of the match saw Williamson and Holder finish off the match with 65 runs.
