Turkish president says the move is also aimed at increasing the amount of humanitarian aid entering Gaza
Eyeing a playoff spot, bottom-placed Sunrisers Hyderabad came all guns blazing against No.2 Royal Challengers Bangalore to eke out a five-wicket win in the Indian Premier League match played at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Saturday.
Earlier in the day, table-toppers Mumbai Indians had thrashed No.3 side Delhi Capitals setting the stage for the south Indian derby. Showing great intent, Hyderabad tamed the famed Bangalore batting line-up and chased 120-run target with 35 balls to spare.
In an all-round effort, Jason Holder led the way with a 10-ball 26 cameo, including massive sixes and 2 wickets for 27. A 50-run partnership between Wriddhiman Saha (32-ball 39) and Manish Pandey (19-ball 26), and excellent bowling from pace battery of Sandeep Sharma (2 for 20) and Holder, and spinner T. Natarajan (1 for 11) that propelled Hyderabad from seventh to fourth spot.
But Hyderabad faltered in their reply. Bangalore spinner Washington Sundar got the big wicket of David Warner (8). Pandey wrested momentum with a six and a four off pacer Navdeep Saini and got to his 1,000 IPL runs by hammering Chris Morris for a maximum. Saha joined the party by smashing Mohammed Siraj for a six into the roof of the stadium. Hyderabad coasted to 58/1 after the first power play.
But Pandey (19-ball 26) got out to an unnecessary hoick against spinner Yuzvendra Chahal. Hyderabad with Saha and Kane Williamson in the middle moved to 74/2 after 10 overs. But Chahal trapped Saha (32-ball 39) to make it 82/3. And Isuru Udana dismissed Williamson (8) to create a flutter in the Hyderabad dressing room. But then Holder yanked a quick-fire 26 with three massive sixes to ensure a big win in 14.1 overs.
Earlier while bowling, Hyderabad attack kept a lid on the scoring with timely wickets and 50 dot balls.
A consistent Sharma was on the mark. The Patiala lad flummoxed Devdutt Padikkal (5) with his swing variations and then deployed the similar strategy to perfection against skipper Virat Kohli (7) as Williamson placed specifically at short extra cover took a nice catch. Sharma bagging Kohli for the seventh time in the IPL saw Bangalore scoreboard read 30/2 after six overs – their lowest total in this edition’s power play.
Bangalore got a reprieve as spinner Shahbaz Nadeem dropped AB de Villiers on 4. De Villiers with Josh Philippe found boundaries and rotated strikes to take Bangalore to 61 from 10 overs.
De Villiers pushed the pedal by smacking Nadeem for a maximum but perished trying another one off the spinner. De Villiers’ (24-ball 24) dismissal ended the 43-run third-wicket stand. An effective Rashid Khan piled on more misery with scalp of Philippe (31-ball 32). Spinners Natarajan and Khan kept pressure on Gurkeerat Singh Mann and Sundar. But the pair kept things moving by finding odd boundaries. Natarajan ended a threatening 30-run partnership with the wicket of Sundar (18-ball 21). Holder returned to clean the Morris (3) and Udana (0) as Bangalore ended up with just 120/7.
Bangalore remain on second spot but their net run rate (-0.15) took a hit. Now the Super Sunday will see an eliminated Chennai Super Kings taking on Kings XI Punjab in Abu Dhabi and Kolkata Knight Riders face Rajasthan Royals in Dubai as the race for the playoff spots heats up.
ashwani@khaleejtimes.com
Scoreboard
Royal Challengers Bangalore
J Philippe c Pandey b R Khan 32
D Padikkal b S Sharma 5
V Kohli c Williamson b S Sharma 7
AB de Villiers c A Sharma b Nadeem 24
W Sundar c & b Natarajan 21
G Singh not out 15
C Morris c Warner b Holder 3
I Udana c Williamson b Holder 0
M Siraj not out 2
Extras (b1, lb2, w8) 11
Total (7 wkts, 20 overs) 120
Fall of wickets: 1-13 (Padikkal, 2.5 ov), 2-28 (Kohli, 4.4 ov), 3-71 (De Villiers, 10.6 ov), 4-76 (Philippe, 11.4 ov), 5-106 (Sundar, 17.1 ov), 6-113 (Morris, 18.2 ov), 7-114 (Udana, 18.4 ov)
Bowling: S Sharma 4-0-20-2; J Holder 4-0-27-2; T Natarajan 4-0-11-1; S Nadeem 4-0-35-1; R Khan 4-0-24-1
Sunrisers Hyderabad
D Warner c Udana b W Sundar 8
W Saha st de Villiers b Chahal 39
M Pandey c Morris b Chahal 26
K Williamson c Kohli b Udana 8
A Sharma c G Singh b Saini 8
J Holder not out 26
A Samad not out 0
Extras (w6) 6
Total (5 wkts, 14.1 overs) 121
Fall of wickets: 1-10 (Warner, 1.2 ov), 2-60 (Pandey, 6.4 ov), 3-82 (Saha, 10.6 ov), 4-87 (Williamson, 12.1 ov), 5-114 (Abhishek, 13.5 ov)
Bowling: C Morris 2-0-19-0; W Sundar 3-0-21-1; N Saini 2-0-30-1; M Siraj 1-0-12-0; Y Chahal 3.1-0-19-2; I Udana 3-0-20-1
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