Mumbai: Leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga picked up a five-wicket haul after skipper Faf du Plessis' impactful half-century as Royal Challengers (RCB) recorded a 67-run victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) to boost their play-off hopes in the IPL here on Sunday.
Opting to bat on a slow surface, du Plessis led from the front with a 50-ball 73 not out, while Dinesh Karthik (eight-ball 30 not out) provided the late flourish as RCB overcame an anxious start to post 192/3.
In response, SRH were skittled out for 125 to crash to their fourth loss on the trot as Hasaranga stymied their chase with figures of 4-1-18-5.
RCB also avenged their shocking nine-wicket loss to SRH in the first leg at the Brabourne where they had collapsed to 68 allout.
Making amend for a sloppy outing on the field, Hasaranga cleverly used his wrong ones and derailed their chase in the middle overs with wickets of the hardhitting Nicholas Pooran and Jagadeesha Suchith in successive overs.
The Lankan then ended his spell in style with a double-wicket maiden, dismissing Shashank Singh and Umran Malik off successive deliveries to virtually seal it for RCB.
With this, he became the second bowler after Yuzvendra Chahal to get past the 20-wicket mark in the IPL. Hasaranga is now one wicket shy of current Purple Cap holder Chahal's tally of 22.
SRH No. 3 Rahul Tripathi made a fine 58 to keep them in the hunt but Josh Hazlewood (2/17) dismissed him and followed it up with the wicket of Kartik Tyagi next ball.
For RCB, it was their second win in a row, coming on the back of a hat-trick of defeats as they firmed up their place inside top-four.
Likewise RCB, SRH too had a jittery start and went on to lose two wickets in the first over in their tall chase of 193.
Like Kohli, Williamson also went for a golden duck in a rare instance -- only third in IPL -- that a wicket fell on the first ball of both the innings.
Earlier, du Plessis slammed eight boundaries and two sixes en route to his third fifty this season and seized the initiative after he lost his opening partner Kohli.
The South African veteran along with Rajat Patidar (48 in 38 balls; 4x4, 2x6) laid a solid foundation with a 105-run second-wicket partnership off 73 balls.
But the SRH bowlers led by spinner Suchith (2/30) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (0/34) slowed things a bit in the middle overs before Karthik gave a last-over flourish (25 runs) to prop up the total.
Karthik made full use of a reprieve by Tripathi in the final over. The experienced wicketkeeper-batter smashed three sixes in succession followed by a boundary against Afghanistan debutant Fazalhaq Farooqi. Overall, he hit four sixes in his cameo.
Hyderabad had their solitary moment of glory, the very first ball of the game when Kohli (0) got out for a third golden duck this season, and sixth overall in the IPL. This was also his second golden duck against the same team this season.
Enduring his worst-ever IPL -- 216 runs from 12 innings at 19.6 -- Kohli had one soft dismissal off a Suchith half volley drifting onto his pads, and the star batter managed to flick it straight to Williamson at short midwicket.
It was all about RCB thereafter as du Plessis and the young Patidar seized the momentum with their counter-attacking approach.
Hyderabad young speed merchant Malik bowled back of the length on what was a slow pitch and the batters had all the time on offer to take him to cleaners in his first over that yielded 20 runs.
Well-settled Patidar, however, missed his fifty by two runs becoming Suchith's second victim, miscuing one in the 13th over.
