Bhuvneshwar Kumar defends 13 runs against AB de Villiers, Umran Malik bowls 153 kph
Sunrisers Hyderabad 141 for 7 (Roy 44, Harshal 3/33, Christian 2/14) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore 137 for 6 (Padikkal 41, Maxwell 40, Malik 1/21) by four runs
The 52nd match of the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2021) was played between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). This match was important for Bangalore to book a spot in the top two, as they have already qualified for the playoffs, while Sunrisers were playing for their honour, as they are already out of contention for a playoff berth.
Both teams didn’t make any changes in their eleven from the last match. Bangalore looked balanced by playing Srikar Bharat at one down and Shahbaz Ahmed at seven. Their captain Virat Kohli won the toss and opted to field at Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
Roy and Williamson provide a solid start to Sunrisers
Sunrisers put a new opening pair in the middle - Jason Roy and youngster Abhishek Sharma. Abhishek struck consecutive boundaries at the start of the second over of the innings, however, he was looking to go on an all-out attack on next deliveries which eventually cost him his wicket, off the delivery of George Garton. He got caught by Glenn Maxwell at mid-on on 13.
SRH skipper Kane Williamson joined Roy in the middle and stabilised the innings. Williamson played some elegant boundaries to Siraj early in the innings. Both batters played sensibly against spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Shahbaz Ahmed to add 70 runs for Sunrisers. Roy got lucky as he played some attacking shots, which went in the air but landed far away from the fielders.
Patel and Christian destroy middle-order of Sunrisers
This partnership forced RCB skipper Kohli to bring their ace seamer Harshal Patel to bowl. He shattered the stumps of Williamson with a beautiful delivery which came in to the stumps from off. Next batter Priyam Garg got caught at deep mid-wicket by AB de Villiers on 15 while trying to pull a slightly short ball of Daniel Christian.
Also, Christian took a blinder to send Roy back to the pavilion on his own bowling. Roy made 44 runs off 38 balls with the help of five boundaries.
Abdul Samad and Wriddhiman Saha lost their wickets in quick succession, to leave Sunrisers on 124 for 6 with around three overs remaining. All-rounder Jason Holder and Rashid Khan could help Sunrisers to reach only 141 in 20 overs due to astonishing death bowling by Harshal Patel and Mohammed Siraj.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar took big fish Kohli in the first over
Bangalore opener and skipper Kohli came out to bat and cracked a graceful cover drive to get four, on the first ball of the innings bowled by Bhuvneshwar Kumar, however, he succumbed on the last ball of the same over. Umpire signalled him out on the LBW appeal, which he didn’t review after consulting with fellow opener Devdutt Padikkal.
Bangalore sent Christian at one down but he failed to impress fans and got out on just one run to Siddarth Kaul. Srikar Bharat hammered an elegant straight six over the bowler’s head and also smashed a four on the next delivery, however, he also returned to the dugout by giving a catch to wicketkeeper Saha, off the delivery of Umran Malik.
Maxwell and Padikkal put up a vital partnership
With Royal Challengers struggling on 38 after losing three wickets, their in-form batter Maxwell joined Padikkal in the middle. He added 54 runs with Padikkal for the fourth wicket. He struck two gigantic maximums off Rashid Khan to increase the run-rate in the tricky chase.
Both batters struggled against fearsome speedster Umran Malik, who bowled the fastest delivery of IPL 2021 (153 kph) in this game.
Bangalore faltered in the fag end of the chase to gift win to Sunrisers
With Bangalore looking on course to win the game, Maxwell got run out while stealing a single from Williamson. This increased the pressure on non-striker batter Padikkal, who also got dismissed on 41 which came painfully slowly off 52 deliveries.
Shahbaz Ahmed hammered two boundaries before getting caught by Williamson at mid-wicket in the penultimate over. With 13 runs needed in the last over, Bangalore fans were hoping Proteas stalwart de Villiers to pull off the chase.
Sunrisers skipper Williamson brought their premier pacer, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, to bowl the final over of the game. However, the chasing equation for Bangalore came down to six runs required on the last ball to win the game. However, on the low full-toss ball, de Villers could take only a single and RCB fell short by four runs.
Bangalore likely to finish at number three after this loss
The result of this match didn't make any change in the points table positions, however, this loss of Bangalore ensured that Delhi and Chennai will finish in the top two in the points table to play in the first qualifier match.
Sunrisers Hyderabad got two points with this win to reach six points, however, they still remain at the last position in the points table.
On October 7, a double-header ensues as Chennai Super Kings take on Punjab Kings at Abu Dhabi in the afternoon game while Kolkata Knight Riders take on Rajasthan Royals in the evening game at Sharjah.
The result of the second game will play a huge role in determining the contenders for the eliminator.
Top Twitter Reactions as SRH beat RCB
Kane Williamson's Sunrisers Hyderabad beat Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore by four runs and RCB remain at the third spot in points table. Kane Williamson gets Man of the Match for his 39 runs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar defended 13 runs against AB de Villiers in the final over. A lot of cricket fans and former players expressed their view about the game and Umran Malik who bowled 153 kph in today's game.
Here are some of the finest Twitter Reactions from SRHvsRCB:
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