IPL 2024: Despite Dinesh Karthik’s heroics, Head tonne leads Sunrisers to a historic rampage as Bengaluru loses: The batters of Sunrisers Hyderabad and Royal Challengers Bengaluru provided the bowlers with an evening to remember on a level surface at M Chinnaswamy Stadium. With bowlers at times resembling bowling machines and over 500 runs scored, SRH, who had a superior assault, won two points.
Not truly present
The evening was summed up on air by Brian Lara. He thanked Hyderabad for the entertainment as they won by a score of 25 runs. What better way to cap off a night in which a T20 match saw up to 38 sixes hammered and a record 549 runs scored? Without a doubt, the game was won when Hyderabad scored 287/3. It’s amazing that RCB managed 262/7, but their “nothing-to-lose” mentality during the pursuit was acceptable. The only unanswered issue following Saurav Chauhan’s removal as the fifth wicket in the tenth over was when the RCB will eventually collapse. However, the innings continued till the 20th over thanks to a 35-ball 83 from Dinesh Karthik, narrowing the margin of defeat.
Travis offers a Jump Start.
Travis Head didn’t need any reminding, but the opener took it seriously when team captain Pat Cummins said that 240 would be the night’s par score. What followed was perfect batting conditions for T20 cricket at its finest. Runs were available for the taking as long as a batsman discovered the gap and connected with the ball due to the short boundaries and weak attack combined with a surface that had been rolled out with runs in it.
Head is not the kind of batsman who would pass up such presents. He immediately engaged the highest gear after starting off with a flick off the second ball he faced. He was in complete control after that, and by the time he returned to the dugout in the 13th over, the Australian left-hander had struck 102 off only 41 deliveries, including 9 boundaries and 8 sixes. Only 17 deliveries were made to him, and he only faced eight dot deliveries out of the 84 runs that he scored.
Recognisable face
There was something familiar about the energetic spectacle that Head was putting on. Head was in the RCB dugout eight years ago, even getting a look-in before Chris Gayle. But he was let go in 2017 following a lacklustre performance. Even though it took him seven years to rejoin the IPL, he proved why he is one of the most dangerous openers in the game today. Head’s greatest asset is making sure his flaw—his poor footwork—isn’t taken advantage of. He can destroy any attack thanks to his excellent hand-eye coordination and ability to hit from anywhere in the park. No line or length can truly bother him in circumstances similar to what he experienced on Monday night. His obvious vulnerability is against spinners. However, Mahipal Lomror’s left-arm spin and Will Jacks’ occasional off-spin were RCB’s only options when they took the pitch.
He wouldn’t be bothered by Reece Topley, Yash Dayal, Lockie Ferguson, and Vijaykumar Vyshak’s pace attack that evening, provided they employed variations to keep him guessing. However, none of those materialised, as Head continued to crank up the pace on his way to his first IPL century.
Inconsistency
It looked like a lost game as soon as Hyderabad was put in to bat after Faf du Plessis won the toss. It was very perplexing to start a squad with the kind of batting firepower that SRH possessed against a team that ranks second worst at the death and has the poorest Powerplay statistics. Having runs on the board could have aided their cause, especially considering the strain they are under with only one victory thus far. However, it is difficult to comprehend RCB’s approach.
They continue to suffer from the lack of a true wicket-taking spinner in their ranks in addition to fielding just four frontline bowlers. It was no accident that their strike was a collective failure. Only three overs saw RCB give up single digit runs, and those were all Powerplay overs. Jacks gave up the fewest runs in the third over (four) and the only one in which there was no boundary hit. They had four overs that went for twenty or more all together. With all of their bowlers having an economy rate of 10 or higher, they bowled four overs that went for 15 to 19 runs. The IPL saw four bowlers concede more than 50 runs for the first time: Topley, Dayal, Ferguson, and Vyshak.
The most unanswered mystery in the IPL is why the Royal Challengers of Bangalore (RCB) have not yet figured out which attack best suits their home circumstances, while being aware of the drawbacks of playing at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
