David Warner found a perfect ally in Kane Williamson and the duo pummelled the RCB bowlers to submission, using just as much finesse as power to help SRH to a comprehensive IPL 2016 win.
The Sunrisers batted first in a match that was delayed due to rain by an hour, and Warner (92, 50b, 9x4, 1x6) came out in supreme form with Williamson (50, 38b, 7x4), playing his first game of IPL 2016 after recovering from a hamstring injury, giving him wonderful company to help SRH to 194/5 in 20 overs.
Virat Kohli and AB De Villiers could not quite found their chasing groove in Hyderabad on Saturday, and as a result, RCB fell short by 15 runs.
With RCB deciding to keep Chris Gayle on the bench, the opening was going to be about Virat Kohli and KL Rahul. Rahul took the lead in the chase, taking on Ashish Nehra and Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the first few overs, with Kohli happy to play second fiddle.
It looked like this game was perfectly setup for the Kohli-defined chase, but just like that Mustafizur Rahman came in, caused Kohli to play a drive on the up and in the air and Ashish Reddy completed the catch at backward point to hand the RCB captain his lowest score this season.
However, as long as AB De Villiers found form, RB were going to be alright, and it looked like SRH would hand the South African a smashing innings on a plate by dropping him twice. First, when he was on just three, with Ashish Nehra completely misjudging a skier at fine-leg and second when the great man was on 16, with Deepak Hooda dropping him at cover.
Had Hooda held on to that catch, it would have given the Sunrisers two wickets in two balls, after Rahul fell to off the last ball of the Moises Henriques over, following a brilliant 51 (28, 6x4, 1x6).
With the chase now firmly on De Villiers' shoulders, the right-hander did his best to take it close, bringing the equation down to 73 from 36 balls after an Henriques over which went for 19 runs. But, Barinder Sran picked up the crucial wicket in the very next over, as De Villiers (47, 32b, 3x4, 2x6) holed out in the deep to Kane Williamson, who made no mistake with the catch.
From there Sachin Baby (27, 16b, 3x4, 1x6), in for Sarfaraz Khan, and Kedar Jadhav (25, 15b, 2x6) tried their best, but the total was beyond them.
Warner did what he does best in the first innings, using brute force when required while showing his brilliant touch too. After Shikhar Dhawan fell in the fourth over to Kane Richardson, Kane Williamson gave the SRH batting lineup the assurance they had been craving for all season.
Too many times, not just this season, the Sunrisers have caved following Warner's wicket, but with Williamson in the lineup, there is just that sense of confidence; that someone will be there till the end, even if an early wicket falls.
Add an in-form Warner and Williamson together and it is a match made in SRH heaven, with the Aussie-Kiwi duo putting on a quite brilliant 124 runs together in a ball over 12 overs. With those two playing such wonderful cricket, SRH were assured of at least 170. But with Moises Henriques firing a nice 31 from 14 balls, that total went all the way up near the 200 mark, which proved to be too much for the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
