BENGALURU: The M Chinnaswamy Stadium was bathed in red on Saturday night – not just in colour, but in the commanding form of defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru as they opened their IPL campaign with a six-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad.After pacer Jacob Duffy (3/22) set up the game with a dream debut, it was Dev Dutt Padikal and Virat Kohli That lit the pursuit. Pedicel’s fluent 61 off 26 balls and Kohli’s unbeaten 69 off 38 ensured RCB breezed past the 200-run target, cruising home with 26 balls to spare.Playing in his backyard, Pedicle looked in complete control. Fresh from an impressive domestic season that saw him play a key role in Karnataka’s run to the Ranji Trophy final, the left-hander carried that form into the night.Following the early departure of Phil Salt (8), Pedicle wasted little time settling in. A trademark flick for a six off Jaydev Anadakt set the tone. His volley against left-arm pacer David Payne was particularly impressive, including a knee six.Often criticized for being stuck at the crease, Pedicel showed better footwork and raced to his half-century with a crisp straight drive, as Kohli cheered at the other end. Padikal, going for a big fight against Harsh Dubey, failed to get past mid-off region with Klaasen taking a regulation catch. Kohli, who was 30 when the partnership ended, shifted gears. He anchored the innings with a short spell that saw skipper Rajat Patidar (31) and Jitesh Sharma (0) fall to Payne on successive deliveries. With the finish line in sight, Kohli and Tim David (No. 16) wrapped it up without a fuss.
Duffy, Ishan Shaw
The initial narrative belonged to the debutants – one making his IPL bow, the other leading a side in the competition for the first time.RCB pacer Jacob Duffy made his debut in style as he tore apart SRH’s top order. But Ishan, captaining SRH for the first time, held firm against the early burst, counter-attacking with a 38-ball 80 to get his side out of trouble.SRH recovered from early shocks and their total was based on Ishan’s composure and Aniket Verma’s (43 off 18 balls) late flourish.Duffy made an immediate impact. Spearheading the bowling attack in the absence of Australian paceman Josh Hazlewood, the New Zealand fast bowler broke the back of SRH’s explosive top-order in his second over. Abhishek Sharma wrongly pulls wicketkeeper Jitesh Sharma. Five balls later, Travis head fell to a short ball pulling straight to full salt at deep backward square leg. Soon after, Nitish Reddy bowled another short delivery to Abhinandan Kumar at mid-wicket.As wickets tumbled around him, Ishan held his nerve. The left-hander found his rhythm against medium pacer Abhinandan Kumar in the sixth over, smashing 6, 4, 6 to signal a change in momentum.Fresh off a strong T20 World Cup campaign, Ishan continued that form without a hitch. Ishan found an able ally in Henrik Klaasen (31), and the two put on a crucial 97-run partnership for the fourth wicket.Just as Ishan looked poised for a century, his 74-minute stay ended in dramatic fashion, with Salt taking a brilliant one-handed catch on the boundary to become Abhinandan’s first IPL wicket.
