IPL 2018: SRH bowlers continue to make Kane Williamson proud

Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Kane Williamson was all praise for his bowling unit after their 5-run win over Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League on Monday.

All five Hyderabad bowlers were among the wickets as Sunrisers successfully defended 146 on a tricky surface at the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium in Hyderabad.

SRH maintained its cent percent record of defending totals this season (4 out of 4) to clinch two crucial points and are almost through to the play-offs now.

RCB on the other hand, have to depend on other results even if they win their remaining matches.

"We're playing on some tough surfaces. We were aiming for 150, and we weren't far away. Our fielding was probably a bit sloppy. Could have operated better. At the same time, good to come away with the win.

"Some experienced campaigners stepping up at the right time. That last over comes to mind. Bhuvi was world class. They've both done it (Bhuvi and Kaul) extremely well for a long time. It's best we can trying to adapt to the surfaces," Williamson said at the post-match presentation.

Hyderabad consolidated their stay atop the IPL points table with yet another brilliant defence of a meagre total.

Shakib picked up 2 wickets while Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddharth Kaul, Rashid Khan and Sandeep Sharma got a wicket each as the Orange Army's registered its eighth win from 10 matches and already have 16 points in their kitty.

"At the moment it's tough going, but as a team, we're getting enough and our bowling unit has been outstanding.

"Obviously it wasn't our best fielding performance. Guys held their nerves at key moments which went a long way in us scraping across the line. Bat and ball, there are things we certainly want to touch on moving forward as a team," the New Zealand skipper added.

Virat Kohli's sixth-placed RCB virtually find themselves out of the race to the play-offs after succumbing to their seventh loss in 10 outings and are likely to play the party spoilers from here on.

After restricting Sunrisers to a manageable 146, the visitors began their chase on a promising note, and looked comfortable at 60/2 before the innings derailed with three quick wickets as they eventually ended on 141/6.

Parthiv Patel gave RCB a flashy start scoring a 13-ball 20 before skipper Kohli blasted a 30-ball 39 to put the tourists on course for a comfortable win.

Kohli started with his trademark cover drive for a boundary before taking left-arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan to the cleaners on three consecutive occasions.

Kohli survived a scare from Afghan leg-spinner Rashid Khan when his edge went through Kane Williamson's hands to the boundary but could not ride his luck a second time when Yusuf Pathan pulled off a blinder of a catch at short third man off Shakib.

The skipper's wicket followed the quick dismissals of AB de Villiers (5) and debutant Moeen Ali (10) as the tourists started losing the plot.

With the asking run-rate climbing and the home bowlers sticking to a perfect line, the last recognised batting duo of Mandeep Singh (21 not out) and Colin de Grandhomme (33) eventually failed to take the visitors home.

(With IANS inputs)