No match is won or lost until the last ball is bowled came rather true in the IPL 9 final between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Bangalore Royal Challengers at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. The local outfit could not take advantage of the home conditions and facing a total of 208 fell apart for 200 and thereby losing the chance to become champions by just 8 runs. For the winning captain Warner it was a good toss to win and the top and middle order of SRH plundered runs at will and that was the difference between the two sides. In the last 3 overs more than 50 runs were added and Ben Cutting cut lose in the end overs to cross 200 runs mark with belligerent hitting. Warner set the tone with a workman like 69 and both Yuvraj Singh and Ben Cutting made valuable contributions in the end. The latter provided the all-round support by claiming the vital wickets of Chris Gayle and K.L. Rahul to put the breaks on the run flow. From 114 in 10.2 overs, the Bangalore team could not maintain momentum and lost 7 wickets thereafter and ended up on the losing side. Fifties by both Gayle and Virat Kohli went vain in the end. Ben Cutting showed plenty of cutting edge in the IPL final against Royal Challengers Bangalore and that include a six out of the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium to place a stamp of SRH in the coveted cup. He not only hit a six out of the stadium but knocked hot favourites RCB at that stage of the match to back seats and his stint of 2 for 35 came at a crucial moment. The icing on the cake was outstanding bowling of Bhuvaneshwar Kumar which ultimately decided the game in favour of the David Warner’s side.
C.K. Subramaniam
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