Bairstow, Warner twin tons highlight Hyderabad’s mauling of Bangalore

Bangalore slumped to their third straight loss of the 2019 Indian T20 League after their batting batsmen crumbled in the face of a daunting 232-run target against Hyderabad.

Bangalore slumped to their third straight loss of the 2019 Indian T20 League after their batting batsmen crumbled in the face of a daunting 232-run target against Hyderabad. After David Warner and Jonny Bairstow had struck respective centuries to fire Hyderabad to their highest-ever total, their bowlers were all over Bangalore’s batsmen dismissing them for 113 and winning the match by 118 runs. (Match Highlights)

Bairstow and Warner’s tons meant that it was only the second instance in the history of the Indian T20 League when twin centuries were hit in one innings. The only other time it happened was in 2016, and the team to do it back then was the one that bore the brunt of it here. AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli had starred in Bangalore’s 144-run win over Gujarat. Bangalore could have really done with a repeat. (READ: Burman youngest to play Indian T20 League)

But what happened on Sunday morning once again highlighted the frailties existing in the Bangalore unit. By the fourth over, de Villiers was cleaned up by Mohammad Nabi – who finished with a tidy 4/11 – and right after the Powerplay, Kohli made the long walk back. Their combined effort brought Bangalore a mere 12 runs with the skipper enduring a tough 10-ball three.

For the third time in the series, Parthiv Patel opened the innings with a new partner. Shimron Hetmyer, the promising West Indies youngster thumped a six but Nabi had him out stumped. Parthiv meanwhile, was the first wicket to go down, also to Nabi, and once Sandeep Sharma had Kohli out caught by Warner at cover, the curtain began drawing down.

More chaos unfolded. Moeen Ali, dropping down from No. 2 to No. 5 was run-out after poor piece of communication followed by the dismissal of Shivam Dube, out caught at long-on which gave Nabi his fourth wicket of the evening. Colin de Grandhomme was the only saving grace, smoking two sixes and three boundaries to top-score with 37. But with wickets falling at the other end, de Grandhomme’s knock only delayed the inevitable before the fire was doused. de Grandhomme’s dismissal was the third run-out of the innings.

But despite the collective disciplined effort from Bangalore’s bowlers, the stars of the game were Warner and Bairstow. For the third time this season, their opening combination was on a roll, registering yet another century-plus stand which paved the way for Hyderabad’s mammoth score.

Bairstow and Warner helped Hyderabad notch up their highest opening partnership of 185 the Indian T20 League. From the moment Bairstow struck the second ball of the innings from Moeen for a crunching boundary, the tempo was set. Bairstow took 14 off the first over off his England teammate and hammered back-to-back boundaries off Mohammed Siraj in the second over. A fierce cut for a boundary brought up Hyderabad’s 50 inside five overs.

Then came the spinners towards whom Bairstow was even more merciless. Prayas Ray Barman, the youngest debutant in the tournament’s history was creamed for three boundaries in his second over, the third one bringing up Bairstow’s maiden Indian T20 League half-century off 28 balls.

Warner happily took the backseat and opted to enjoy the fireworks from the other end after smacking a boundary and a six off his first three deliveries. What stood out was the low number of dot balls consumed by the two batsmen (14 till the first 12 overs). The boundaries were taken care of by Bairstow, and Warner ensured the running between the wicket never lost steam. At least 10 doubles were taken, of which seven instances looked to be definite singles. But Warner pushed hard. It was a double what brought up his half-century off 32 balls.

It was after he had crossed his fifty that Warner accelerated. He and Bairstow took 20 off Barman’s final over, who finished with rather forgettable figures of 0/56 from 4 overs, 50 of which came off his final three. Bairstow, meanwhile, was in no mood to let his guard down and continued his relentless attack before finally a ball managed to take the edge of his bat. Yuzvendra Chahal dropped it slow and gave it air, and Bairstow, lining himself up for an eighth six, edged a heave to a diving Umesh Yadav running in from backward point.

Post his dismissal, it was Warner’s turn to entertain the home crowd. A thumping six down the ground off Siraj brought up the 200 for Hyderabad before Vijay Shankar was run-out next ball. Every bowler went at over 9.5 an over and it was Umesh who Warner decided to go after.

A boundary and a six brought up Hyderabad’s highest-ever total. Warner continued to extract doubles in extremely hit conditions and having struck back-to-back fifties in the last two games, the opener bettered it with a century off the last over – his third at the venue. With that, he joins Shane Watson and Kohli as players with four centuries – the second-most after Chris Gayle‘s six.

Brief Scores: Hyderabad 231 for 2 (Jonny Bairstow 114, David Warner 100*; Yuzvendra Chahal 1 for 44) beat Bangalore 113 ALL OUT (Colin de Grandhomme 37; Mohammad Nabi 4/11) by 118 runs.