IPL 2020: SRH vs RCB – Williamson, Holder Help SRH Beat RCB By 6 Wickets In Eliminator

Abu Dhabi: Kane Williamson’s half-century and an all-round masterclass from Jason Holder helped former champions SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by six wickets in the Eliminator of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at Sheikh Zayed Stadium on Friday.

Opting to bowl first, Jason Holder bagged three wickets, while T Natarajan and Shahbaz Nadeem contributed with two and a wicket, respectively to help SRH restrict RCB to a partly score of 131 for seven in their stipulated 20 overs. Put into bat, the RCB big names faltered when it mattered the most as Kohli (6 off 7 balls), Devdutt Padikkal (1 off 6 balls) fell cheaply as Holder accounted for both the wickets. It meant that Kohli’s ploy of opening the innings for RCB also backfired. It was AB de Villers (56 off 43 balls) gritty knock along with Aaron Finch’s 32 off 30 balls that saw RCB somehow limping to a moderate total of 131 runs for seven wickets.

Chasing a moderate target of 132, SRH had the worst possible start as opener Shreevats Goswami (0) lost his wicket in the first over off Mohammed Siraj. Manish Pandey joined David Warnern (17 off 17 balls in the middle and added 42-run for the second wicket.

Kane Williamson came in to bat at number four. In the ninth over, spinner Adam Zampa bagged Pandey (24 off 21 balls) and sent back top-three batsmen of Hyderabad. Priyam Garg and Williamson then had a brief 12-run stand for the fourth wicket. Garg failed to play a big inning for the side and was dismissed at seven runs by Yuzvendra Chahal.

All-rounder Jason Holder and Williamson then had a solid unbeaten partnership of 65-run to put their side over the line. Kane Williamson brought up a crucial knock of 50 off 44 balls besides sharing a 65-run stand with Jason Holder (unbeaten at 24 off 20 balls) to help SRH cross the mark in 19.4 overs.

SRH will now face Delhi Capitals in Qualifier 2 on Sunday (November 8). The winner of that match will play the summit clash against Mumbai Indians.