Royal Challengers Bangalore beat Sunrisers Hyderabad to top IPL table
Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore edged out Sunrisers Hyderabad by six runs for their second successive victory of this Indian Premier League season, AFP reported.
Hyderabad, who lost their opener of the Twenty20 tournament on Sunday, faltered in their chase of 150 to finish on 143-9 despite a valiant 54 by skipper David Warner in Chennai, AFP reported.
Left-arm spinner Shahbaz Ahmed struck three times in one over to make Hyderabad slip from 115-2 to 116-5, AFP reported.
Pace bowlers Mohammed Siraj and Harshal Patel took two wickets each as Bangalore took top spot in the eight-team table.
Glenn Maxwell top-scored with 59 – his first IPL fifty since 2016 – in Bangalore’s 149-8 after being put into bat.
“For us Maxi gave us that momentum and got us closer to 150,” Kohli said of his star player, who was bought by Bangalore for $1.95m in the February auctions.
He added: “To be very honest, we’re not over-excited with victories. It’s a long tournament and you have to be professional with your job.”
Kohli made 33 off 29 deliveries and put on a key third-wicket partnership of 44 with Maxwell.