Hyderabad: A punishing partnership of 103 between captain David Warner and Moises Henriques propelled Sunrisers Hyderabad to a mammoth 135 for 3 in their rain-curtailed crucial match against the Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium here on Friday night. Rain started lashing the ground once again during the innings break when this edition went to bed.
Warner whacked an unbeaten 52 (32 balls, 5x4, 1x6) while Moises blasted 57 as the hosts rained runs in their stipulated 11 overs. Moises was in murderous mood, smashing, slashing, slaying everything in sight. At his destructive best, the rampaging Moises resembled a bull in a China shop. And the RCB red shirts only provoked him more. Fortune also favoured his bravado — he survived three chances before being caught by wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik off David Wiese after blasting five boundaries and four sixes in his 22-ball knock.
The hosts got off to a sedate start. Shikhar Dhawan slammed a boundary but couldn’t quite get hold of another ball as he tried to up the tempo, hitting David Wiese into the waiting arms of Ashok Dinda at mid-on. With the reliable opener gone for just 8, with only 19 on the board, the Eagles looked grounded. RCB captain Virat Kohli kept changing his bowlers as he tried to unsettle the batsmen but Warner was up to the task. He kept playing the way he does — aggressively. In walked Moises Henriques and out went the ball as he launched Yuzvendra Chahal into the top tier of the northern block. That meant the scoreboard rattled along.
The home side’s 50 came in 5 overs. Despite Mandeep Singh’s diving effort, some big hits by Moises off Ashok Dinda set the Eagles flying. Soon, Moises had his share of luck. He was dropped on 26 by Mandeep at long-off, Harshal Patel being the unfortunate bowler. He could have been run out too in the same over, the bowler missing an easy underarm throw as the Aussie attempted a cheeky leg bye. But in between he had taken 21 runs off the over, including three fours and a six.
Kohli pressed in Mitchell Starc and he should’ve got Moises out had Sarfaraz Khan held on to an easy chance at point with the batsman on 46 and the side total reading 90 for 1 in 7.2 overs. Warner lifted Chahal into the stands with a switch hit as jaws dropped. Earlier, rain robbed two hours and 40 minutes of play curtailing the match drastically. The recast rules of the game sounded strange — 11-overs-a-side, power play only 3 overs, four bowlers can bowl two overs each while a third one can send down three; no time out, innings break cut to 10 minutes.
