IPL 2021: SRH vs RCB - Who won yesterday's match?
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) did a KKR, as they went down to Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in Chennai by six runs in the sixth match of IPL 2021.
Chasing 150 to win, SRH needed 35 off the last four overs with eight wickets in hand. Left-arm spinner Shahbaz Ahmed, though, claimed three wickets in the 17th over to turn the match on its head. Jonny Bairstow (12) slog-swept one high up in the air, which wicketkeeper AB de Villiers pouched superbly.
Next ball, Manish Pandey (38), who was holding one end up, sliced Ahmed into the hands of short third man. The left-arm spinner then made it three in the over when Abdul Samad’s nervous slog resulted in a caught and bowled.
SRH continued to crumble, as Vijay Shankar (3) holed out, trying to take on Harshal Patel.
With 27 needed off the last two, Rashid Khan blasted a six off Siraj. However, Holder (4) failed to complement his effort, as RCB got on top. Khan was run out for 17, going for a non-existent second run, as the chase eventually fizzled out, with SRH finishing on 143 for 9.
Earlier in their chase, SRH lost Wriddhiman Saha for one when he slashed Mohammed Siraj straight to backward point.
After an uncertain start, David Warner and Manish Pandey upped the ante, amassing 17 off the fourth over bowled by Kyle Jamieson. Pandey slapped a full ball over midwicket for a maximum. Warner then hammered a four between extra-cover and wide mid-off. The SRH captain finished the over on a high by pulling a short one over fine leg for a second maximum in the over.
Rediscovering his mojo, Warner hit Siraj for consecutive fours as SRH reached 50 for 1 at the end of the powerplay overs. At the other end, Pandey creamed Washington Sundar for a six over long-on as RCB began to run out of ideas.
Playing his 100th match for RCB, Yuzvendra Chahal failed to make an impression. In the leg-spinner's third over, Warner helped himself to two more fours - one with a reverse sweep and the other via a conventional one.
The SRH captain eased to his 50 off 31 balls. Warner, though, fell soon after for 54, mistiming a slower short ball from Kyle Jaimeson straight up in the air. Like KKR yesterday, SRH committed harakiri and spectacularly imploded from a dominant position.
SRH restrict RCB to 149 despite Maxwell's 59
A versatile SRH bowling line-up exploited the slow surface in Chennai to restrict Royal Challengers Bangalore to 149 for 8. RCB were asked to bat first after David Warner won the toss. But barring Glenn Maxwell (59 off 41), no otherRCB batsman could make a significant impact.
SRH dominated proceedings from the beginning. Making a comeback to the team after missing the first game due to health issues, Devdutt Padikkal (11) had a short vigil at the crease. Trying to take on Bhuvneshwar Kumar, the left-hander misjudged the pace of the ball and popped a simple catch to midwicket.
As revealed by Virat Kohli at the toss, Shahbaz Ahmed walked in at no. 3. He managed to dispatch a poor ball from left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem to fine leg for six. The bowler had his revenge in the next over, though, as Ahmed (14) attempted a heave over midwicket but only ended up dragging the ball to deep square leg. Rashid Khan slid on his knees to complete a good catch.
Kohli once again got into the 30s but top-edged an attempted pull off Jason Holder as he struggled to time the ball on the slow surface. Things got worse for RCB when the dependable AB de Villiers (1) miscued a cut off Rashid Khan straight to a gleeful Warner at extra cover.
Washington Sundar (8) and Dan Christian (1) also came and went as RCB stumbled to 110 for 6 in the 17th over.
It needed some Maxwell magic to pull RCB towards a somewhat decent total. He found some help from the tall Kyle Jamieson, as the duo took three fours off the 18th over bowled by Kumar.
Jamieson crunched the first ball between extra-cover and long-off for a brutal four. The fifth ball was a low full-toss, which was slashed to the right of the bowler. In between, Maxwell clobbered another full-toss between deep midwicket and wide long-on.
In the penultimate over bowled by T Natarajan, Maxwell brought out the reverse scoop and swipe over square leg to hit two crucial fours. In the last over delivered by Jason Holder, the Australian brought up his first fifty in the IPL in five years with a couple to deep square leg.
The Big Show celebrated the feat by swatting another full-toss over deep square leg for a maximum. He was caught behind off the last ball, going for another mighty slog.
Earlier in the innings, Maxwell got into rhythm by blasting left-arm spinner Nadeem for two sixes and a four in the 11th over of the RCB innings. However, Rashid Khan (2 for 18) pegged back the Bangalore-based team, while Jason Holder finished with figures of 3 for 30.
IPL 2021: SRH vs RCB - Man of the Match
Maxwell was the best batsman for RCB by some distance. If not for him, RCB would have struggled to put up a half-decent total on the board. Batting with a mix of maturity and brutality, he slashed five fours and three sixes in his 41-ball-59 innings.
Rashid Khan was excellent for SRH yet again. He sent back RCB talisman AB de Villiers for 1 and ended with brilliant figures of 2 for 18. The addition of Jason Holder in place of Mohammad Nabi also worked in SRH’s favour. On a slow pitch, suited to his type of bowling, Nabi made a serious impression, claiming three wickets without giving away too much.
When SRH came out to chase, Warner led from the front with a fluent fifty. Left-arm spinner Shahbaz Ahmed, though, claimed three in an over to choke SRH. Although Ahmed played a key role in his team's win, it was Glenn Maxwell who was named the Man of the Match.