Yuvraj, Henriques hand Hyderabad winning start

The match in a tweet: IPL 10’s opening night sees Yuvraj Singh turn back the clock, blasting 62 from 27 balls to give SRH the perfect start to their title defence.

The hero: Yuvraj Singh was at his damaging best as the Sunrisers Hyderabad were sent in by stand-in RCB skipper Shane Watson, blasting the fastest half-century of his IPL career. Entering the match with David Warner (14) and Shikhar Dhawan (40) already dismissed, the left-hander combined with Australian allrounder Moises Henriques (52) for a crucial stand, taking 58 from 29 balls. Yuvraj hit seven boundaries and three sixes in his blitzkrieg, reaching 50 in just 23 balls, the third fastest half-century from a Sunrisers Hyderabad batsmen. Yuvraj also took two vital catches to remove Travis Head and Stuart Binny, earning him player of the match.

The absentees: It was always going to be tough for the Royal Challengers Bangalore, missing their three leading run scorers from last season in Virat Kohli, AB De Villiers and KL Rahul for the season opener. Things looked positive when Chris Gayle went into the Rajiv Ghandi stands three times, but regular wickets and a contribution of only 18 for the final five wickets with a mountain of work still to do proved costly for the away side.

The rivalry: In their first meeting since IPL 9’s decider, Sunrisers Hyderabad looked just as in control as last time, with Yuvraj again a key contributor to the victory. But with the Sunrisers posting 4-207, their second highest IPL total ever, their appetite for runs against Royal Challengers Bangalore only grew. Tonight’s total falling just one run short of their biggest IPL total, 7-208, in last year’s final against the same opponent.

The two-million-dollar-man: Much hype surrounded the inclusion of Tymal Mills to the Royal Challengers line-up after the departure of speedster Mitchell Starc in the off-season. Pocketing a cool $2.3m, the heavy price tag came with some expectation, and with figures of 1-31 from his allotted overs, it’s fair to say he was respectable without setting the world on fire. He did show a glimpse with the bat, taking Bhuvneshwar Kumar over cover for a mammoth six from his second ball, only to be dismissed the next ball, albeit with the score virtually out of reach.

The run out: Despite staring down 208 for victory, Bangalore started brilliantly, with Mandeep Singh (24) and Chris Gayle (32) more than serviceable at the top. Their dismissals brought Travis Head and Kedhar Jadhav to the crease and created cause for concern for David Warner’s side. The two went at more than 10 an over in a 56-run stand and looked likely to carry on before Jadhav lap-sweeped a ball to fine leg, with Ben Cutting turning a seemingly innocuous pick-up and throw into something for the highlights reel, catching Jadhav short with a direct hit and turning the game his side’s way.

The Aussie Pack: Five Aussies turned out in the title rematch, with Head the only one not to feature in last year’s decider, and all had a part to play. Watson was thrown the captaincy just two days out from play and elected to send SRH in, while with the ball he was a little costly leaking 41 runs from his three overs. Warner scored 14 in a rare miss against a side he posted two half-centuries against last season before Henriques took the reins, blasting 52 from 37 balls with some lower-order Cutting power helping SRH to 207. Head (30) and Watson (22) kept their side in the game but it was Cutting’s run-out that would prove most telling in the chase.

The first: Rashid Khan created history, becoming the first Afghani player to play in the IPL. Suiting up for Sunrisers Hyderabad, the 18-year-old had a little while to wait before being thrust into the action by Warner, but his leg-spin turned a trick. Khan claimed the dangerous Mandeep Singh in his first over with a beautifully executed leg-break that slid onto off-stump, breaking the vital partnership and starting an inroad into victory for the hosts.

The century: Sunrisers Hyderabad quick Ashish Nehra became just the eighth player to claim 100 wickets in the IPL after removing Watson and Sreenath Aravid in consecutive deliveries. A change of pace saw the RCB captain sky a ball straight to Henriques, with Aravind undone the very next ball with a late-swinging delivery taking leg-stump. Nehra becomes the sixth Indian to achieve the feat and boasts the best strike rate of the hosts, trailing only Lasith Malinga and Dwayne Bravo, also the only left-arm bowler of the bunch.

The fallout: Royal Challengers Bangalore travel head back to the fortress that is M. Chinnaswamy Stadium to take on the Delhi Daredevils boasting a pace attack that includes both Kagiso Rabada and Pat Cummins on Monday before David Warner’s men take on the Gujarat Lions who could feature Aaron Finch and James Faulkner the following night.