IPL 2020: Padikkal, De Villiers take Royal Challengers to 163

Abu Dhabi - Bhuvneshwar Kumar gave away only two runs in his first over

Debutant Devdutt Padikkal and AB de Villiers smashed fifties to power Royal Challengers Bangalore to 163 runs against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the third match of the Indian Premier League at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Monday.

Put into bat, Padikkal made a promising start to his IPL career by pummelling bowlers at his will. After a cautious start, he launched himself against Thangarasu Natarajan by whipping the left-arm pacer for three boundaries in an over. Padikkal hit 50 from 36 balls and shared a 90-run partnership with opener Aaron Finch. The 20-year-old Keralite was helped by two generous dropped catches too.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar gave away only two runs in his first over but other bowlers proved expansive. Sunrisers suffered a setback as Mitchell Marsh got injured and left the field as scoreboard hit 50 in six overs.

Introduction of spinner Rashid Khan slowed things briefly. Finch broke shackles by hitting Khan for a boundary and a maximum. Khan misery continued as he misjudged a catch to hand a boundary to Padikkal, which also brought up his fifty.
Vijay Shankar pulled things back by snaring Padikkal (42-ball 56). And Abhishek Sharma trapped Finch (29) to make it 90 for two at the end of 12 overs.

With two new batsmen at the crease, Sunrisers were able to stem the flow of boundaries. Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers could score 26 runs in the next four overs but failed to hit boundaries. Sunrisers' pressure paid off as Kohli (14) was caught while trying to smash Natarajan for a maximum. After 16 overs, RCB total stood at 124 for three wickets.

In the last two overs, brilliant De Villiers turned the tables with back-to-back sixes and a four to reach his 50 off 29 balls before being run out. Royal Challengers finished at 163 runs for the loss of five wickets - a par score on Dubai wicket.

• IPL 2019