Holder burst unable to prevent Sunrisers defeat

CHENNAI, India, (CMC):

Former West Indies Test captain, Jason Holder, made an immediate impact with the ball but his Sunrisers Hyderabad failed to capitalise and slipped to a six-run defeat to Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League here yesterday.

Featuring in his first match of the lucrative tournament, the 29-year-old fast bowler snatched three for 30 from four overs to restrict star-studded RCB to a modest 149 for eight at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.

Australia’s Glenn Maxwell top-scored with 59 and captain Virat Kohli chipped in with 33 but RCB also found themselves strangled by leg-spinner Rashid Khan, who snared two for 18 from four miserly overs.

In reply, Sunrisers were held to 143 for nine off their 20 overs, with captain David Warner (54) and Manish Pandey (38) two of only three specialist batsmen to reach double figures.

They needed 16 off the last ball, but saw their efforts scuppered by fast bowler Harshal Patel (2-25), who grabbed two wickets and conceded just nine runs.

Left-arm spinner Shahbaz Ahmed struck telling blows to end with three for seven from two overs.

Opting to bowl first, Sunrisers reduced RCB to 47 for two in the eighth over before Kohli joined Maxwell in a 44-run, third wicket recovery effort.

Kohli faced 29 balls and struck four fours before becoming Holder’s first wicket in the 13th over, top-edging a pull at a short one and holing out to long leg.

TOOK CONTROL OF THE CONTEST

The Indian maestro proved to be one of four wickets to tumble for 18 runs in 28 deliveries as Sunrisers took control of the contest, and RCB needed Maxwell’s 27-run seventh wicket stand with Kyle Jamieson (12) to get out of their rut.

Maxwell belted five fours and three sixes off 41 balls before becoming one of two wickets for Holder in the final over, edging behind a swing at a wide delivery.

What should have been a straightforward run chase quickly became complicated. Wriddhiman Saha perished for one in the third over but Warner and Pandey’s 83-run, second wicket stand appeared to put Sunrisers back on course.

When Warner dragged pacer Jamieson to long on in the 14th over after hitting seven fours and a six off 37 balls, the innings suddenly imploded.

Jimmy Bairstow (12) and Pandey fell to the first deliveries of the 17th over with the score on 115 while Abdul Samad was dismissed off the final ball, as Sunrisers lost seven wickets for 27 runs in the space of 23 balls.

Holder was removed in the penultimate over from pacer Mohammed Siraj (2-25), taken at long off for four.