Bengaluru ends slump with 35-run victory over Hyderabad in IPL

HYDERABAD, India (AP) — Rajat Patidar smacked 50 runs off 20 balls as Royal Challengers Bengaluru overturned their poor form to beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 35 runs in the Indian Premier League on Thursday.

Patidar hit five sixes in his second straight half-century, and Virat Kohli scored 51 off 43 balls to help Bengaluru reach 206-7 in 20 overs.

The heavy hitting Hyderabad batting lineup was restricted for once to 171-8 (20 overs) against one of the weakest bowling attacks in the tournament.

Opting to bat, Bengaluru was given a good start by Kohli and Faf du Plessis (25) who put on 48 off 23 balls.

Kohli continued his good spell as this season's leading scorer, getting 32 off 18 balls in the power play. He then slowed down, scoring only 18 off the next 19 deliveries.

Patidar made up for lost time as he hit Hyderabad bowling to all parts of the ground. He hit spinner Mayank Markande for four sixes in an over before being caught in the deep off Jaydev Unadkat.

Unadkat also sent back Kohli before he could cut loose. Cameron Green then rescued Bengaluru from 140-4, scoring 37 not out off 20 balls, and pushing the score past 200.

Sunrisers’ openers have lit up the IPL with their heavy hitting in the power-play overs, but they failed to get going on the day.

Australian Travis Head fell for just one run, out caught off Will Jacks. His partner Abhishek Sharma did get a start, scoring 31 off 13 balls, but he was caught behind in the fourth over.

Hyderabad’s top order then fell apart to Bengaluru’s spinners — Aiden Markram was out for seven, while hard hitting Heinrich Klaasen also fell for the same total. Both were out to part-time left arm spinner Swapnil Singh, who finished with 2-40 in three overs.

In between, wrist spinner Karn Sharma bowled Nitish Reddy for 13 and then dismissed Abdul Samad too, as the hosts were down to 89-6 in 9.1 overs.

Shahbaz Ahmed hung in there for 40 not out off 37 balls, with skipper Pat Cummins also scoring 31 off 15 balls, but it was not enough after the initial collapse.

Hyderabad thus stayed third — equal on 10 points with Kolkata Knight Riders and Lucknow Super Giants, but sandwiched between the two on net run-rate.

It was Bengaluru’s second win in nine games and it stayed 10th in the points table.

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