‘This team can go all the way’: Bangalore blow away Hyderabad and move closer to playoffs

Hyderabad and Bangalore locked horns in the 54th match of the Indian T20 League 2022 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The Men in Green and Black won the toss and elected to bat first given the dry surface on offer. They had a poor start as Virat Kohli bagged his third golden duck of the season. Kohli (0) was caught at short midwicket by the opposition skipper Kane Williamson off Jagadeesh Suchith.

However, skipper Faf du Plessis and Rajat Patidar stitched a partnership of 105 runs to help the team recover from the early jolt. Rajat Patidar scored 48 off 38 balls including four fours and two sixes striking at 126.31. Patidar was caught at deep midwicket by Rahul Tripathi off Suchith in the 13th over. Glenn Maxwell, who came out to bat after Patidar’s dismissal, scored a quick 24-ball 33 including three fours and two sixes.

Maxwell was caught at long-on by Aiden Markram off Kartik Tyagi with 1.4 overs left in the innings. Dinesh Karthik played a cameo of 30 off eight balls including four sixes and a four. Du Plessis remained unbeaten on 73 off 50 balls including eight fours and two sixes. The team amassed 192/3. Hyderabad bowlers looked listless as it has been the case in the last few games for them.

In reply, the Men in Orange had a poor start as they lost both their openers, skipper Kane Williamson and Abhishek Sharma in the first over of the innings. Williamson bagged a diamond duck as he was run out by Shahbaz Ahmed. Sharma (0) followed next as he was clean bowled by Maxwell. Markram (21 off 27) and Rahul Tripathi stitched a partnership of 50 runs before the former was caught at deep midwicket by Kohli off Wanindu Hasarnaga.

Tripathi scored 58 off 37 balls including six fours and two sixes and was the lone warrior for the team. While he was playing such wonderful innings, wickets kept falling at the other end. The team was restricted to 125 all-out with four players scoring a duck and eight players failing to go past the double-digit mark. Hyderabad ultimately lost the match by 67 runs. This was their fourth consecutive defeat and the sixth in the tournament. Bangalore won their 7th match and inched closer to a place in the top four.

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