IPL 2020, RCB vs SRH: Who won yesterday's match?

The Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) beat the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by 5 wickets with nearly six overs to spare. With the win, SRH held off RCB's qualification to the IPL 2020 playoffs stage while keeping themselves in the race.

Chasing a paltry 121 for victory, SRH made a mockery of the chase within the powerplay. Carrying on from his terrific knock against DC, Wriddhiman Saha scored 39 and Manish Pandey contributed 26 as well.

While David Warner, Kane Williamson and Abhishek Sharma all trudged back to the hut without many runs to their name, Jason Holder's flurry of boundaries took care of the target. His 26 off 10 finished off the chase with 35 balls to spare, following up a fine performance with the ball with the sort of clinical ball-striking that was rare in this match.

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SRH tie RCB down to 120/7

This was an important game for RCB, as victory here would have confirmed their playoffs berth while also giving them the best chance of finishing in the top two. They prepared for this game by dropping a woeful Dale Steyn, bringing back Udana and also quick bowler Saini in place of Shivam Dube.

Not a lot went according to plan for RCB in the first half of the game. Tied down by the SRH opening bowlers, Devdutt Padikkal went with his attacking instinct only to be bowled by a Sandeep Sharma inswinger.

RCB skipper Virat Kohli was dismissed by Sandeep for the seventh time in IPL history. While Josh Philippe and AB de Villiers stuck around, they hardly kept the scoreboard ticking with both restricted to scoring at a run-a-ball. There was little by way of fireworks from anyone beyond de Villiers, with Gurkeerat Singh (15 off 24) looking particularly miserable.

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IPL 2020, RCB vs SRH: Who was the Man of the Match?

Jason Holder was one of the stars of the match, with two wickets in an economical spell followed by some monstrous hitting at the back end. T Natarajan was near-impossible to get away, as his four overs went for a mere 11 runs. However, it was opening bowler Sandeep Sharma who walked away with the honour.

It wasn't merely the fact that Sandeep picked up two wickets in the game, but the quality of those wickets and their impact on the match. Devdutt Padikkal has been one of the emerging talents of the season, while Kohli can get very dangerous once he is allowed to settle in.

The wickets of both these batsmen meant RCB were always playing catch-up with SRH, which all the other bowlers capitalised on to apply the squeeze. Thus, for an impactful spell of 4-0-20-2, Sandeep Sharma was the Man of the Match in yesterday's game.