IPL 2020: Bangalore set 121-run target for Hyderabad

Sharjah - A consistent Sandeep Sharma was on the mark

Royal Challengers Bangalore could muster only 120 runs against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League match played in Sharjah on Saturday.

Opting to ball first, Hyderabad attack kept a lid on the scoring with timely wickets and some 50 dot balls.

A consistent Sandeep 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 Kane Williamson took a nice catch at short extra cover. 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 pile more misery with scalp of Philippe (31-ball 32). Spinners T. Natarajan and Khan kept pressure on Gurkeerat Singh Mann and Washington 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). Jason Holder returned to clean the Chris Morris (3) and Isuru Udana (0).

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