Match Review

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The spin trio were finally up and ready for the party, with Chahal, Ali, and Washington Sundar pulling off a miraculous heist for the IPL franchise. Starting with Sundar’s over, the fortune took a U-turn from the Sydney side, as James Vince, Steve Smith and Josh Philippe fell to the familiar trio. If not for the wickets in that patch, the Australian side might have walked away with the W. 

Highs and Lows

Oh, the lows, the terrible parts of the innings, where it must have been painful as a team member. Frankly, on the night, there were a few contenders for the lows but none bigger and better than the Australian, Steve Smith. One of the world’s best, Smith after scoring a couple of boundaries in the game, succumbed under the pressure, failing to the spin of Yuzvendra Chahal. That was not just an exit for him from the game but also the hopes fading in thin air for the BBL side. Smith’s numbers on the night were just lacklustre, not even close to the form that he showed in the BBL season earlier. 

Rating Charts

Despite boasting one of the best top-order in the competition, RCB could only get off to a poor start, losing Australian opener in the second over of the innings. However, they did salvage their pride with the display after the second-over period in the innings, with an 11-run over. The finishing touches to the powerplay overs were refreshing, as the IPL side scored 26 runs in the fifth and sixth over of the innings. Overall, by the end of the powerplay, RCB were already up and running with 54 runs on board, losing two wickets. 

In reply, Sydney Sixers got off to an ODI-like start, picking up just ten runs from the first two overs. After that, however, they upped the ante, with three high-scoring overs towards the end part of the powerplay. 33 runs off the last three overs surely put them on the pedestal, given that they did not lose any wicket through the early phase of the innings. 

It was at this moment, RCB pulled the game away from the hands of the BBL side. The performance was the most RCBest of things, with Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers putting on yet another partnership in the middle. From the seventh over phase till the end of the first half of their innings, Kohli’s side scored 39 runs before adding another 39 leading into the death overs. Surely, this phase, where Sydney failed to pick up wickets led to the game going far away from their hands. 

If the middle-overs period was just till the tenth over, Sydney Sixers had one of the best performances in the tournament. Sadly, for them, and for us, the middle overs stretched another five-over period, where they crashed terribly. From the 11th over leading to the 15th, the side led by Moises Henriques lost five wickets, losing their best hope in the form of Steve Smith and Josh Philippe. Compared to RCB’s efforts earlier in the game, Henriques’ men performed terribly. 

This is a rare sight, where RCB bowlers performed exceedingly well in the death overs. We have never seen it before, we might never see it again but on the night, they were exceptional both in terms of runs conceded and wickets taken. Not only did they just concede 25 runs in the end overs but also picked up four wickets, which surely shut the Sixers’ efforts down. There was just one over, where seven runs were conceded but apart from that, it was a herculean effort.  

Contrastingly, Sydney failed towards the dead-end of the innings, where they butchered their earlier efforts in the game. Not only did they concede 46 runs during that phase but only picked one wicket in return, which did not serve them any purpose. In all, it was just a bad bad bowling show from the experienced bowlers. 

Another game, which gets the average tag in the SRL tournament, this game was just too poor for the eye. Barring the numbers put by the RCB batsmen in the first innings, there was really nothing substantial in the game. Also for the eye, Virat Kohli’s form was delightful as he scored 48 runs in the first innings.