Faf fifty, DK flourish push RCB to 192/3

Skipper Faf du Plessis led from the front with an unbeaten half-century while Dinesh Karthik provided the late flourish as Royal Challengers Bangalore overcame a jittery start to post 192/3 against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League here on Sunday.

Du Plessis slammed eight boundaries and two sixes en route to his 50-ball 73 not out, his third fifty this season and seized the initiative after he lost his opening partner Virat Kohli on the first ball of the match.

The South African veteran along with Rajat Patidar (48 in 38 balls; 4x4, 2x6) laid a solid foundation with a 105-run third wicket partnership off 73 balls.

But Hyderabad bowlers led by spinner Jagadeesha Suchith (2/30) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (0/34) slowed things a bit in the middle overs before Dinesh Karthik gave a last-over flourish (25 runs) to prop up the total.

The Indian experienced wicketkeeper-batter smashed four sixes, three of them coming in succession followed by a boundary in the last over against Afghanistani debutant Fazalhaq Farooqi, en route to his entertaining cameo.

Hyderabad had their solitary moment of glory, the very first ball of the game when Kohli (0) got out for a third golden duck this season, sixth overall in IPL.

Enduring his worst-ever IPL -- 216 runs from 12 innings at 19.6 -- Kohli had one soft dismissal off a Suchith half volley drifting onto his pads, and the star batter managed to flick it straight to Williamson at short midwicket.

It was all about RCB thereafter as Du Plessis and the young Patidar seized the momentum with their counter-attacking approach.

Patidar looked at his fluent best, while the skipper was in total control in the afternoon heat of Wankhede as they took just 31 balls for their fifty-plus stand.

Hyderabad young speed merchant Umran Malik bowled back of the length on what was a slow pitch and the batting duo had all the time on offer to take him to cleaners in his first over that yielded 20 runs.

Well-settled Patidar however missed his fifty by two runs becoming Suchith's second victim, miscuing one in the 13th over.