Mohammad Abdullah, Staff Reporter
Yuzvendra Chahal (3-18) triggered a dramatic collapse with two wickets off consecutive deliveries as Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) snatched a win from the jaws of defeat against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in their first IPL match in Dubai on Monday.
Riding on brilliant batting performances of AB de Villiers (51) and Devdutt Padikkal (56), RCB posted a fighting total of 163/5 before bundling out SRH for 153 in 19.4 overs.
Chasing, Hyderabad got off to stuttering start as captain David Warner fell short of his ground while scrambling for a run in just the second over of the innings.
However, England wicket-keeper batsman Bairstow and Manish Pandey shouldered the responsibility of putting their team's innings back on track.
RCB players celebrate after taking a wicket.
The duo played sensibly and kept the scoreboard ticking with singles and doubles, hitting the occasional boundary to keep the asking rate under control.
The duo added 71 runs for the second wicket to take the score to 89-1 in 12 overs before Chahal had the former caught by Saini.
He then rattled the stumps of Bairstow (60) and Vijay Shankar (0) in successive balls to bring RCB back into the game.
No other batsman could resist the assault of the charged-up RCB bowlers and kept on losing wickets at regular intervals.
Garg dragged a delivery from outside his off stump on to the wicket to leave Hyderabad tottering at 129-5. To add to their woes, Rashid Khan and Sharma collided in the middle of the pitch while taking a suicidal second, which resulted in the latter’s dismissal.
Virat Kohli celebrates with his teammates in Dubai.
Earlier, Padikkal and Finch gave RCB a blistering start with a 90-run opening partnership. Both the openers were looking in cruise control of the proceedings as they toyed with the Hyderabad bowling attack.
They set the tone for a huge score. Padikkal was more brutal of the two as he raced to his fifty with a boundary off Sharma in the 10th over. The duo took the score to 90 before Vijay Shankar uprooted the Indian batsman's stumps to give Hyderabad their first breakthrough.
Padikkal's innings was studded with eight boundaries while Finch smashed one four and two sixes during his 27-ball stay at the crease.
Soon after Padikkal’s dismissal, Sharma struck off the very next delivery to get rid of Finch. He trapped the Australian right in front of the stumps to reignite their hopes.
With two new batsmen – Kohli and De Villiers -- on the pitch, Hyderabad bowlers had a good opportunity to try and mount the pressure.
Kohli and De Villiers knuckled down to build the innings once again. The duo added 33 runs in four overs for the third wicket.
Natrajan had Kohli caught by Rashid Khan at mid-wicket. De Villiers flexed his muscles and collected 14 runs off Sandeep Sharma in the 19th over. He hit the medium pacer for two consecutive sixes off the third and fourth deliveries, reaching his fifty with a couple off Bhuvneshwar Kumar on the third ball of the last over.
He finally fell prey to a stunning throw by Pandey which saw an agile Bairstow make no mistake, the latter collecting the ball and taking off the bails in a jiffy to send back the danger man. RCB wound up their innings for 165/5.