Sunrisers Hyderabad rode on the individual brilliance of David Warner and Trent Boult to open their account in the eighth Indian Premier League (IPL) with a convincing eight-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bangalore in Bengaluru.
Opting to field, pace spearhead Boult picked up three wickets in one over to help Sunrisers bowl out the hosts for 166, and then skipper Warner stole the show with a sizzling 27-ball 57.
Shikhar Dhawan (50) chipped in with a fluent half-century, guiding the team home with 16 balls to spare and leaving the packed crowd at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium disappointed. Lokesh Rahul made an brisk 44 off 28 balls and added 78 runs for the third wicket with Dhawan, who was also involved in a 82-run opening-wicket stand with Warner.
Rahul ended the game with a huge six off Varun Aaron.
Earlier, Boult pegged back RCB by taking the wickets of the marauding AB de Villiers, who top-scored for his side with a 28-ball 46, Sean Abbott and Harshal Patel in the innings' penultimate over to finish with impressive figures of 3/36.
In their chase, the Sunrisers started on a scintillating note with openers Warner and Dhawan accumulating 16 runs in the innings' first over bowled by Sean Abbott.
The second over was even better as Warner smashed Harshal Patel for 20 runs to take the visiting side's total to 36 by the time the hapless bowler finished his over. The left-handed batsman hit Patel for three boundaries before depositing the final ball over midwicket for a six.
Warner picked Varun Aaron for special treatment, hitting the pace bowler for 15 runs with the help of a couple of fours and a cracking upper cut six over the third man boundary. He then pulled Abu Nechim Ahmed, the ball soaring over long-on for another maximum.
The Australian raced to his fifty in the next over, the milestone coming in just 24 balls.
Yuzvendra Chahal was greeted to the bowling crease with a six over backward square-leg but the bowler had his revenge three balls later as he had Warner, who was shaping himself up for sweep shot, trapped in front of the wicket.
Chahal then had Kane Williamson, promoted in the batting order, smartly stumped by Dinesh Karthik in his next over as SRH closed in on 100 around the halfway mark.
Dhawan, who hit four boundaries and two sixes in his 42-ball knock, meanwhile, chipped in with a few boundaries to keep his side ahead in the chase, and was ably supported by Rahul who hit four boundaries and a six.
Earlier, riding high on a 28-ball 46 from AB de Villiers, RCB managed to post a par score. Skipper Virat Kohli tried his best to lead the pack after Chirs Gayle departed early, before he was castled by Ravi Bopara for 41.
But it was Trent Boult, who hurt RCB the most as he picked up three wicket, including the prized wicket of De Villiers. Bhuvneshwar Kumar then grabbed two wickets in the final over as RCB's innings ended with a ball to spare.
The Royal Challengers Bangalore were off to a brisk start with Chris Gayle and Kohli going great guns. Gayle started the onslaught by lofting Boult straight over his head for a massive six in only the third ball of the innings.
Kohli then majestically drove Kumar past mid-off, bringing the packed home crowd on its feet with his strokeplay.
Gayle followed it up with three more boundaries before medium pacer Praveen Kumar had him caught at deep square leg while going for a wild flick. The Jamaican hit three fours and a six during his 16-ball 21.
The big-signing Dinesh Karthik looked out of sorts during his 11-ball nine, his stay in the middle ending with a top-edge off a Karn Sharma ball.
However, it was Sunrisers Hyderabad who had more to cheer about as Ravi Bopara, with his military medium pace bowling, sent back the dangerous Kohli (41) and Mandeep Singh off successive deliveries in the 12th over. Warner pulled off a stunning one-handed catch at cover to send back Mandeep, leaping to right with both his feet off the ground.
But RCB still had De Villiers to bank on and the big-hitting South African tried to deliver before falling to Boult.
