Why was the match between RCB and SRH so unique and special?

It was a “win or die” situation for Royal Challengers Bangalore. This fact alone made the match a must-watch for everyone. The stakes were high for RCB. A loss here would have meant the team is completely out from the IPL 2018 tournament—meaning, another wasted year for them despite looking promising.

For a cricket enthusiast, there was a lot to look for in this incredible match between RCB and SRH. I think, at least on paper, the best batting line was going head-to-head with the best bowling line. One side, there’s AB de Villiers, Virat Kohli, Shane Watson (he didn’t play though), and Moeen Ali. And on the other side, we have got Bhubneshwar Kumar (he, too, didn’t play), Sandeep Sharma, Siddharth Kaul, Rashid Khan and Shakib Al Hasan. The match was bound to be spectacular. And boy did it stood well on all its hype.

Even though SRH have already qualified for the semi-finals, they gave the toughest fight with the bat, an area where they aren’t necessarily very strong. Captain Kane Williamson showed just how good of a batsman he really is, pushing balls in all direction. Undoubtedly, he was at his best, scoring 81 off 42 balls. On the bowling end, Siddharth Kaul continued impressing everyone.

On Royal Challengers Bangalore side, while a lot was depending on skipper Virat Kohli, he couldn’t really do much. And then AB de Villiers took charge—much like most of the time. He scored 69 off 39 balls. Moeen Ali played a great partner, contributing equally. Moeen scored 65 runs off 34 balls; his inning included 6 giant sixes. On the bowling end, RCB did struggle. They only managed to take 3 wickets, showing the loophole that this team has been struggling with since the beginning.

All in all, it was a great battle between two of the most competitive teams in IPL. Batting first, RCB scored 218 runs in 20 overs, losing 6 wickets. Chasing, SRH fell short of 14 runs. They managed to score 204 runs in 20 overs, losing 3 wickets. With this win, RCB has still kept its hope alive to qualify in the top 4. With 14 points on the table, along with 2 other teams, now everything depends on the average run rate.

Whoever qualifies though, bottom line is that Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Sunrisers Hyderabad was one of the best matches of this IPL 2018 tournament. There were great moments. Breath-taking batting. And some very competitive bowling.