The curtain-raiser for the IPL season at the Chinnaswamy is always special. There is an unmatched buzz, a concoction of excitement, expectation and jangling nerves. In the 2016 season, RCB were to face Sunrisers Hyderabad in their first of fourteen league games. 

RCB’s strength was going to be the top 3. Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli, and AB De Villiers had always been the team’s MVPs. However, in the 2016 season, they had an added license to express themselves at the top, with the acquisition of Shane Watson providing a boost to the batting order, along with the rise of KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, and Kedar Jadhav. Having been put in to bat on a batting paradise, RCB got off to the worst imaginable start, with the ball deflecting off Chris Gayle’s thigh pad and onto the leg stump. 

When one thinks of the greatest hits of AB De Villiers and Virat Kohli, the partnership at Wankhede against the Mumbai Indians or the record stand against Gujarat Lions spring to mind. The third on the list has to be the one against the Sunrisers in the game of interest. The duo saw off the early threat of a relatively unknown Mustafizur Rahman and then went on to put the Sunrisers’ bowling to the sword. The partnership worth 157 for the second wicket put RCB in a position of strength, with the team score at 163, going at just over 10 an over. When Kohli was dismissed for 75 and De Villiers followed him 9 balls later, RCB’s scoreboard stood at 183/3 with 16 balls to go.

The 157 run stand between Kohli and De Villiers put RCB well on top

The loss of two of the best batsmen in the world might have put breaks on the scoring rate, one would think. But, the RCB batting still had gas left in its tank. First, it was Shane Watson, the newest superstar addition to the RCB galaxy who hit three monster sixers against a dazed Karn Sharma. The leggier had leaked 57 off his four overs on a forgettable evening.

If the Kohli-De Villiers partnership was the main course, the dessert was served by Sarfaraz Khan. He paddled awkwardly, he scooped stylishly, he powered the ball away, all in a space of 10 balls, 7 of which had either reached or cleared the boundary ropes. The 35 runs he scored provided the cherry on top, as RCB ended on 227/4.

Even though a score of 227 would win a T20 game on most days, no total is safe enough at the Chinnaswamy. Sunrisers took off from the beginning with Shikhar Dhawan and David Warner scoring at nearly 2 runs a ball. The first bit of respite for RCB came when Parvez Rasool, beat Dhawan’s prod and disturbed the off peg off the first ball of the fourth over.  David Warner threatened to take the game away with some lusty hitting. But, the investment in the all-rounder Shane Watson paid off for RCB, as the Aussie out-thought his teammate and got him to pull one straight to deep square-leg.

The Sunrisers' innings never really recovered after their middle order withered away in a space of 10 deliveries; Chahal inflicting key blows in the form of Naman Ojha and Deepak Hooda. A rescue act from Eoin Morgan, and some big-hitting late in the day by Ashish Reddy did not contribute towards anything but a reduced strain on their net run rate. RCB sailed to a 45 run win over the Sunrisers Hyderabad.