Sunrisers Hyderabad beat RCB by 35 runs in IPL opener

Yuvraj's innings had seven fours and three sixes; Henriques' innings had three fours and two sixes

Defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad made a perfect start to their Indian Premier League (IPL) campaign crushing a depleted Royal Challengers Banaglore (RCB) by 35 runs in the opening encounter on Wednesday night.

Veteran Yuvraj Singh's blazing blade (62 off 27 balls) and unheralded Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan Arman (2/36 in 4 overs)'s crucial breakthroughs enabled Sunrisers to outwit a Virat Kohli-less RCB in all departments.

A challenging target of 208 was achievable on a placid track but RCB could only manage 172 in 19.4 overs losing wickets at regular intervals. This was the first time after 23 IPL matches that RCB were all-out.

RCB's top four --- Chris Gayle (32), Mandeep Singh (24), Travis Head (30) and Kedar Jadhav (31) were all set before getting out. Kedar's dismissal was the turning point as RCB were never in the match after that.

He was looking dangerous during his 16-ball stay and was run-out when Ben Cutting's direct throw from the deep found him short by a metre.

On a belter where pacers became easy prey for the batsmen, Sunrisers skipper David Warner rotated his spinners well trying to take the pace off the deliveries.

Young Rashid, who created history by being the first Afghan to play an IPL match got Mandeep with a fuller delivery that didn't turn. Read more

ViratKohli set a new record by scoring his fourth century

ViratKohli set a new record by scoring his fourth century

Man-of-the-match Virat Kohli set a new record by scoring his fourth century (113 in 50 balls with 8 sixes and 12 fours) in this IPL season and Chris Gayle returned to form by hitting 73 in 32 balls with 8 sixes and four boundaries.

Desperate efforts by Vijay to break the partnership or get either of them out early failed as Kolhi and Gayle were in full cry and batted with disdain.

While the first 50 came in 4.4 overs of the six-over power play, the first 100 of RCB's innings came in 8.5 overs.

Though Vijay used as many as five bowlers to contain the openers, there was no respite for Kings till Gayle got caught by David Miller of Arshad Patel ball in 11 over when RCB score was 147 on the board.

After in-form AB de Villiers was bowled for a duck in 12th over, keeper K.L. Rahul joined Kohli to take the score to 199 when the skipper was caught by Miller off Sandeep Sharma ball at 113 comprising 8 sixes and 12 fours in just 50 balls.Ream more full article about Virat Kohli.