RCB Records Second Win Against Sunrises in IPL 2021

RCB Records Second Win Against Sunrises in IPL 2021

I don’t know why Sunrisers Hyderabad captain David Warner did not take the first batting after winning the Toss against Royal Challengers Bangalore? Batting second in Chennai is increasingly becoming a nightmare. On Tuesday, Kolkata Knight Riders imploded under dramatic circumstances. On Wednesday, it was SRH’s turn, softening what seemed like a straightforward chase to go down by six runs. In pursuit of 150, it was 96/1 after 14 overs with Warner and Manish Pandey in charge of proceedings. However, Warner’s departure spooked them when RCB’s unprecedented left-arm spinner Shahbaz Ahmed picked up three wickets in 17th as RCB posted its second straight win.

Shahbaz Ahmed Did Greate Job

Despite Captain Warner’s loss to a well-compiled 37-ball 54, SRH took the lead in contention after the 16th final, reading 115/2 on the scoreboard. On the fold were a well-established Manish Pandey and the irrepressible Jonny Bairstow. But hitting second in Chennai is not proving easy. RCB captain Virat Kohli insisted with left-arm spinner, Shahbaz Ahmed. Could he conjure magic like Rahul Chahar and Krunal Pandya did for Mumbai?

Pressure does strange things to people. Bairstow makes a mistake on a sweep to give AB de Villiers a catch. In the next installment, Pandey sinks into the depths, while Ahmed gets two out of two. Abdul Samad avoids the hat-trick, but three balls later deliver a simple catch back to Ahmed. Three vital blows in the 17th beat RCB on the rise. There were no heroics on the part of offroaders Vijay Shankar and Jason Holder as they capitulated on the 18th and 19th respectively to leave SRH needing 20 of 9 balls. Rashid Khan, after his superlative efforts on the ball, did his best, throwing a six and a limit off Harshal Patel. But it was too big a task for SRH’s lower order. “A very big bitter pill to swallow. Obviously Maxi (Glenn Maxwell) hit well, but our bowlers were right to restrain them. Look, it was just about building a society … and I was quite disappointed with how it went: cross shots against Orthodox left arm. It just hurts, ”Warner said after the second loss in a row.

Maxwell Shows What He IS

RCB would do well to thank Maxwell, his important signing for this season. The Australian may have endured a torrid moment last year with Kings XI Punjab, but in both games in his new franchise, he appears to have found his verve. Maxwell has a definite role in the intermediate order that seems to have liberated him to some extent. This was the reason why he managed to play the way he did. At 47/2 after 6.1 overs, the 32-year-old struggled to adjust to the Chennai court and Rashid Khan’s craft. After a quiet start in which he racked up 9 of 16 balls, he crashed into Shahbaz Nadeem in the eleventh second, hitting the left arm roulette wheel for a double of sixes and a limit. This was followed by another lull in the middle of the overs, after which he racked up 39 runs from the last three overs. His priceless 41-ball 59 was his first half-century in the Indian Premier League (IPL) in five seasons. Maxwell’s flourish propelled RCB to 149/8, which turned out to be a match-winning trial. Without it, they were dead and buried. The beauty of this shot was the way he scored innings and his accurate shot selection.

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