It was the finals of VIVO IPL 2016 and it was a clash between two of the most consistent and explosive teams of the IPL. Both teams were equally eager to win this encounter as they had never won an IPL before. It was going to be a cracker of a match as SRH won the toss and chose to bat first.

On a good batting wicket, it was the captain who started aggressively as he took on the RCB bowlers. He carted the ball at will, to all parts of the ground and was ably supported by Shikhar Dhawan. They scored 59 runs in the power play to give SRH an explosive start. After Dhawan’s dismissal, it was Yuvraj Singh who came in and showed glimpses of his former self with a few mighty hits into the stands. The bowlers pulled things back for RCB in the middle over’s, as they sent back the dangerous David Warner who threatened to take the game away with a fiery 69(38). RCB struck once again to send back Yuvraj who looked in good touch. It appeared as if RCB would be able to restrict SRH below 200. But a blitzkrieg innings of 39 runs from 15 balls by Ben Cutting put RCB on the back foot as he propelled the Sunrisers to a total of 208.

RCB had a dream start as Chris Gayle led the chase from the forefront. The hard-hitting West Indian began the onslaught pretty early in the innings. Virat Kohli, on the other hand, was unusually subdued as he gave the maximum strike to the Caribbean opener. RCB reached fifty in no time as Kohli began to get into the groove. The put a partnership of 114 runs from just 63 balls, which came to an end when Gayle was dismissed. Captain Kohli didn’t let the wicket slow down the run rate as he scored another fifty. Kohli was looking good for another big score and go past the 1000 run mark when he chopped the ball on to his stumps. AB de Villiers too didn’t last long as RCB appeared to be in troubled waters. SRH bowlers made a brilliant comeback into the game as they kept chipping wickets at regular intervals. With 37 required off the last three over’s Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mustafizur Rahman were accurate to choke the RCB batsmen. Even before the match David Warner said that he had confidence in his bowlers. The bowlers repaid this confidence with a superb performance in the finals which helped them lift the IPL trophy for the very first time. Congratulations Sunrisers Hyderabad on winning the IPL 2016.