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Johannesburg - Cameron White was the hero of the Super Over as the Sunrisers Hyderabad beat the Royal Challengers Bangalore in a thrilling blow-for-blow match in Hyderabad on Sunday night which ended with both teams on 130 runs.
According to the supersport.com website, White hammered two sixes among the 17 runs he gathered from five deliveries off Vinay Kumar. The Sunrisers ended with 20 runs from the over, thanks in part to a no-ball which upset Kumar’s rhythm.
White was superbly backed up by Dale Steyn, who bowled full and straight to tie up the first two nominated Challengers batsmen, Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli. He conceded a four to a leg-side flick from Kohli and a straight driven six from Gayle, but the rest were almost unplayable.
The Sunrisers could have been forgiven for feeling confident after they restricted the Royal Challengers to just 130 for eight in their 20 overs, but they were made to fight for every run and at no stage did either side take command, although fortunes swung by the over.
They were anchored by their debutant Hanuma Vihari, who scored 44 from 46 balls - and he gave his team a remarkable start when he captured the wicket of Gayle with his first ball in IPL cricket, earning him an innovation award and the man of the match title.
The home team had looked to be on course to make it two wins from two matches when Kumar Sangakkara and Vihari put on 33 in 25 balls which took the score to 81 when the fourth wicket fell in the 14th over, breaking the back of the chase. But the Challengers responded, as the Sunrisers had done earlier, by breaking through the middle order to keep the run rate down.
At 98 for four, the Challengers were under pressure, but two quick wickets, one of which came from some brilliant fielding by Kumar, which ended in the run-out of Amit Mishra, turned the momentum. Ashish Reddy contributed a six to a haul of 14 runs from the 18th over, but from 117 for six with two overs to go, the Sunrisers could not quite close it off.
The Challengers owed their total to the efforts of Kohli and Australian all-rounder Moises Henriques, making his debut this season, who between them contributed 90 of their team’s runs; but at least the Challengers could claim some batting honours: they scored 12 boundaries (11 fours and a six to the Sunrisers’ eight (seven fours and a six), which indicated how difficult it was to score, thanks to fine bowling and, in the main, excellent fielding.
The Sunrisers were guilty of two dropped
caches, one of which deprived leg-spinner Amit Mishra a second wicket, but
nonetheless, his four covers cost just 15 runs. Ishant Sharma ended with three
from 27, thanks to two wickets in the final over.
