By Neil Manthorp.
An opening stand of 172 between Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli, who scored his sixth IPL century, guided the Royal Challengers Bangalore to a thrilling eight-wicket victory against the Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Hyderabad on Thursday.
Kohli’s 100 from 63 balls (12×4, 4×6) trumped a brilliant century from Heinrich Klaasen in the first game in IPL history featuring a century from both sides as SRH posted 186-5 and RCB responded with 187-2 to win with four balls to spare.
Klaasen delivered a century of astonishing brilliance to guide the Sunrisers to a competitive total after being asked to bat first but Du Plessis and Kohli made light work of the chase allowing their team to coast to victory in the final two overs after both were dismissed.
Du Plessis extended his lead at the top of the run-scoring table with 71 from just 47 balls with seven fours and two sixes before heaving a tired pull to the boundary.
Earlier, Klaasen reached three figures from just 49 balls before being bowled two balls later for 104 which included eight fours and six sixes during an innings in which he confirmed his reputation as one of the best players of spin in the world.
Whether flicking over the legside or driving over extra cover for six, Klaasen was at his dominant best throughout despite the early loss of both openers with just 28 runs on the board.
Abhishek Sharma (11) and Rahul Tripathi (15) both departed in tame fashion to Kiwi offspinner Michael Bracewell (2-0-13-2) but Aiden Markram (18) played the junior role in a partnership of 76 with Klaasen to put the Sunrisers back on course.
Englishman Harry Brook played his part with 27* from 19 balls (2×4, 1×6) but Klaasen played the lead role.
Mohammad Siraj (4-0-17-1) conceded just four runs from the final over of the innings to keep RCB in the game and the run-chase manageable.
Sunrisers were already out of playoff contention but RCB will finish in the top four if they beat log-leaders and defending champions Gujarat Titans in their final match.
SUNRISERS HYDERABAD: Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, Aiden Markram (captain), Heinrich Klaasen (wkt), Harry Brook, Glenn Phillips, Abdul Samad, Kartik Tyagi, Mayank Dagar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Nitish Reddy
ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE: Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis (captain), Glenn Maxwell, Mahipal Lomror, Anuj Rawat (wkt), Shahbaz Ahmed, Michael Bracewell, Wayne Parnell, Harshal Patel, Karn Sharma, Mohammed Siraj.