Sunrisers Hyderabad Win Maiden IPL Title with Tight Victory Over RCB In 2016
Sunrisers Hyderabad secured their inaugural IPL championship with a narrow eight-run triumph over Royal Challengers Bangalore RCB) at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in a nail-biting Final in IPL 2016.
Led by skipper David Warner and propelled by Ben Cutting’s stellar performance, Sunrisers showcased resilience and skill to clinch the coveted title.
Royal Challengers Bangalore 200 for 7 (Gayle 76, Kohli 54, Cutting 2-35) lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad 208 for 7 (Warner 69, Cutting 39*, Jordan 3-45) by eight runs.
Sunrisers Hyderabad made a bold move early in their first IPL final when they chose to bat first against Royal Challengers Bangalore in a field where big scores have been routinely chased down. Their skipper, David Warner, led the way with a 38-ball 69, while Ben Cutting, with an undefeated 15-ball 39, closed the innings to enable them reach 208 for 7. But in the end, Sunrisers’ bowling attack—the finest in the league—was responsible for their first-ever IPL victory, winning by eight runs at M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
With the exception of the strain of chasing in a final, Royal Challengers had already passed 200 three times at home this season. There was no reason why they could not do so again on Sunday. Virat Kohli and Chris Gayle, the opening duo, seemed unfazed, destroying 114 in 10.3 overs. With eight sixes and four fours, Gayle alone scored 76. Despite the strain on the Sunrisers’ attack, they skillfully hit the brakes following Gayle’s wicket.
47 off 24 balls remained achievable despite the dismissals of Gayle, Kohli, and AB de Villiers. There were two threats that Shane Watson, Stuart Binny, and Sachin Baby had to deal with. One was Mustafizur Rahman’s cutters, which came off after a tumultuous second over in which Kohli dismantled him with perfect accuracy. His perseverance paid off as Watson made a blunder in his trudge to cover.
The hosts needed to score 30 runs in the final two overs after Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled four consecutive yorkers in the eighteenth over. Then, in the last over, with 18 to defend, he again maintained his composure.
Shane Watson had one of his rare bad days at the bat. In four wicketless overs, he gave the batsmen a variety of hittable deliveries, including short, wide, and full deliveries, and he gave up 61 runs, including 24 in his last over, the 20th of the Sunrisers innings.
But the Royal Challengers had their batting machines. Gayle had only scored one fifty in nine innings before the final, raising doubts about his ability, but he remained unfazed, hitting three sixes in his opening two overs and led the Royal Challengers to 42 for 0 after four.
After reaching his half-century in twenty-five balls, Gayle struck another six off Moises Henriques to begin the seventh over. With his scoring pace, Kohli was able to overcome a shaky beginning where he managed just one four in his first eighteen deliveries, and that too with a heavy outside edge. Subsequently, an inside-out hit that crossed the infield almost reached a diving Warner far away. With two sixes and a four to end that Henriques-bowled over, Gayle elevated the Royal Challengers to 100 in nine overs.
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In the tenth over, Warner restored Mustafizur to the game, and Kohli at last found his rhythm, forcing him to cover four and then lofting him over the long-off boundary. With control over the asking rate, Gayle skillfully rotated the strike. The ship Royal Challengers was sailing.
Then the chaos began: in the course of 20 balls, Gayle, Kohli, and de Villiers fell, and the Royal Challengers were reduced to 148 for 3. They needed Watson to make up for his ball-handling errors as well as 61 off 37. He hit Henriques for six overs long on, but Royal Challengers had too much to do in too short a time after his dismissal in the 17th over, which came right after KL Rahul’s.
Warner laid the stage for Sunrisers to win. The Sunrisers captain delivered clean lofted shots as Kohli used a deep point to thwart his cut. He was happy to back off to open up the off side or cut the ball behind square when it was not in his half. He finished the competition as its second-highest run-getter with eight fours and three sixes for his ninth fifty.
Warner was bowled more floaters by Yuzvendra Chahal than legspinners, but they slipped on and gave the batter more room to hit. In the ninth over, Warner took advantage of that space to hit him for two fours, reaching his fifty off just 24 balls—tying the record for the fastest half-century in an IPL final. As his innings went on, he showed no fear in crossing the stumps and getting beneath whole deliveries by taking use of the depth of the crease.
Sunrisers’ momentum was maintained by Yuvraj Singh, who entered the field at 97 for 2 in the tenth over. He opened with a forceful off-drive against Watson before launching a six-figure shot behind square on Chris Jordan. The confident walk and effortless bat swing had returned. With two sixes and four fours, he raced to 38 before being caught off guard by Jordan’s slower ball. Yuvraj was dismissed in the seventeenth over, following in the footsteps of Warner and Deepak Hooda. With a score of 148 for 5, it appeared that Royal Challengers could catch Sunrisers in the long run.
Cutting made sure it wouldn’t occur. He reduced the length of attempted yorkers by staying deep in the crease and clobbered the low full-tosses and half-volleys. He began the last over batting on 16 off 10 and struck Watson for 4, 6, 6, and 1 before returning to form for the last ball of the over, which he lofted far over long off. The Royal Challengers lost for the third time in their third final after the over, which went for 24, proved to be game-changing.
