#OTD in 2016: Sunrisers Hyderabad lifted their maiden Indian Premier League Title

On this day in 2016, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by eight runs at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium and claimed their maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) title.

Both the teams had eight wins in 14 league matches, but RCB had an edge due to their better net run rate. They were placed second in the points table and secured a victory by four wickets against Gujarat Lions in Qualifier 1. Bangalore’s captain Virat Kohli had a dream run in this edition and was a pivotal force in helping the team reach the finals. 

On the other hand, Sunrisers won Eliminator and Qualifier 2 against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Lions, respectively. SRH’s captain David Warner stood second in the tally of leading run-getters after Kohli. 

Sunrisers trusted their in-form bowling unit and chose to bat in an all-important Finals. The experienced openers Warner and Shikhar Dhawan provided a positive start to the team, with consistent boundaries coming their way. At the end of the power-play overs, SRH was at 59/0. 

In the seventh over, Dhawan (28) mistimed a lofted sweep shot off Yuzvendra Chahal and holed out to Chris Jordan at deep square leg. Warner took most of the strike in the next couple of overs and accelerated the run rate to notch up his ninth fifty of the season. 

The dismissal of Moises Henriques (4) in the tenth over brought Yuvraj Singh to the crease. The stylish Indian batter hit a glorious cover drive to bring up the hundred for the Sunrisers. 

In the 14th over, Sreenath Aravind sent Warner packing for 69 off 38 balls, wherein Iqbal Abdulla caught the edge at the short third-man area. However, Yuvraj was in full flow as he hit big sixes and fours to continue the well-built momentum. 

RCB got multiple breakthroughs in the form of Deepak Hooda (3) and Yuvraj (38), and Sunrisers were at 148/5 in 17th over.

It was a terrific final flourish from Ben Cutting, who remained unbeaten on 39 off 15 balls to help the team post 208 on the board. In the final over of the innings, 23 runs were scored, with the bowler Shane Watson finishing with 0/61 off four overs. 

In reply, Chris Gayle brought joy to the home crowd as he flexed his muscle to hit towering sixes. RCB also scored 59 runs in the first six overs and had a strong start.  

As Bangalore reached 100 in nine overs, Kohli started attacking in an exemplary fashion. The pacer Mustafizur Rahman dropped Kohli’s catch in the first ball of the 11th over, but the subsequent ball witnessed Gayle (76) mistiming a slower delivery of Cutting and getting holed out to Bipul Sharma at the third-man region. 

Kohli continued the fine momentum to complete his seventh fifty of the season. However, Barinder Sran hurried Kohli (54) with a good length ball, resulting in the former RCB skipper getting knocked over. Kohli fell short of the 1000-run mark in a single season by 27 runs. 

Bipul Sharma helped to create further inroads by dismissing AB de Villiers (5) in the 14th over. A couple of overs later, Cutting bowled KL Rahul (11), and RCB still needed 49 off 27 balls. 

Watson (11) holed out to Henriques off Rahman in the subsequent over. After that, Sachin Baby (18*) tried well, but RCB fell short by eight runs, and Sunrisers lifted their maiden IPL title. 

Cutting was named ‘Player of the Match’ for his contribution in both departments. On the other hand, Kohli was awarded ‘Player of the Tournament’ for scoring 973 runs, comprising four hundreds.