IPL 2021: 'Glenn Maxwell said you can finish it off' - Srikar Bharat on last-ball six vs DC
Srikar Bharat hit a match-winning 78 off 52 deliveries in a difficult chase as Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) beat Delhi Capitals (DC) by three wickets in their final league stage match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 on Friday.
Chasing 165, RCB lost openers Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal early, but Bharat, with the help of first AB de Villiers, and then Glenn Maxwell, helped chase the target down on the last ball of the match.
RCB needed six to win off the final delivery with Bharat on strike, but Avesh Khan fired it down the leg side for a wide. Still, Bharat needed to hit a six to win it off the extra ball, while a boundary would have taken the game to a Super Over.
Avesh bowled a full toss on middle and Bharat managed to hit it straight back over the bowler and managed to clear the fence and seal a great win ahead of their Eliminator against Kolkata Knight Riders.
Scenes from the #RCB camp as @KonaBharat finishes it off in style.
#VIVOIPL #RCBvDC https://t.co/ApyHdTuJ9U
Bharat had the in-form Maxwell at the non-striker's end, but he said that the destructive Australian trusted him to finish the job, and that gave him a lot of confidence.
In response to a question from Sportskeeda in a press conference after the match, Bharat said:
"In the last over, me and Maxi, we were talking to each other with regard to what are the areas we can access, and he was like ‘okay, just watch the ball and get bat on ball.’ And that is exactly what we were doing. The last three balls, I asked him whether to run, and he said no, you go ahead, you can finish it off. That gave me a lot of confidence. And then I was just focused on one ball that was coming next. So I kept it simple, and as a team we did very well, and we pulled it off."
Bharat also spoke about how he and AB de Villiers, who was promoted to no.4 on Friday, approached the innings after the early dismissals of the openers.
"When AB walked in, he just said watch the ball, come in to good positions and then work the ball out. So, we were just thinking of building a mini-partnership, which would give a good platform for people walking in next to finish it off," Bharat said.
Srikar Bharat finishes it off in style to give RCB crucial momentum
Bharat had impressed in the few opportunities he had got previously at no.3 for RCB, and on Friday he played an authoritative knock to win the match for his team.
RCB bowled well earlier to restrict DC to 164/5 after a blistering start by Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw.
But their chase could not have gotten off to a worse start as they lost Devdutt Padikkal for a golden duck in the first over to Anrich Nortje and then Virat Kohli in the South African's next over.
Floundering at 6/2, Bharat and de Villiers consolidated things for RCB, before the latter holed out at deep square leg trying to go after Axar Patel. AB de Villiers scored 26 off 26 in a 49-run stand with Bharat.
Maxwell, who is the RCB's highest run-scorer this season, was the next batter in, and he and Bharat took advantage of the platform set by the last partnership to see the team through.
Maxwell scored his sixth half-century of the season as the two put on an unbeaten partnership of 11 runs off just 63 deliveries.
Stupendous FIFTY from @Gmaxi_32. This is his 6th in #VIVOIPL 2021 👏👏
Live - bit.ly/IPL-2021-56 #RCBvDC #VIVOIPL https://t.co/rz94A6D68N
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But while Maxwell is the more in-form player righr now and considerably more dangerous with the bat, it was Bharat who stole the show on the night and poetically hit the winning six.
Bharat hit three boundaries and four sixes in his unbeaten knock of 78 off 52, while Maxwell finished on 51 not out off 33 deliveries, with eight boundaries to his name.
It was Bharat's maiden IPL half-century.