Glenn Maxwell hits his 1st IPL fifty after 2016, helps RCB beat SRH by 7 runs
Ahmed does the star turn with 3/7 as Bangalore pip Hyderabad
For the second consecutive day, the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium here witnessed a spectacular meltdown in the later part of the match as Sunrisers Hyderabad went down to Royal Challengers Bangalore by six runs.
It was RCB’s second consecutive win this season and it pushed them to top of the table.
Chasing 150 on a tricky track, skipper David Warner hit a stroke-filled half-century, his 49th IPL fifty, and stiched a 83-run stand (off 69 balls) for the second wicket with Manish Pandey to put Sunrisers on course.
But, what followed was a disaster as Sunrisers batsmen made a mess of the chase after Warner’s departure. With 35 required off 24 balls, Kohli tossed the ball to left-arm spinner Shahbaz Ahmed who duly obliged his skipper by taking three wickets in the over.
In an attempt to attack Shahbaz, Jonny Bairstow and in-form Manish dug their own graves off consecutive balls, while Abdul Samad skied a slogsweep.
Sunrisers needed 16 off the last over, but pacer Harshal Patel bowled a good over to ensure RCB’s win.
Warner, who surpassed Rohit Sharma (5,292) to become the third highest scorer, said the defeat was a big bitter pill to swallow.
“I was quite disappointed with how we went cross-batted shots against left-arm orthodox. It just hurts. We have another three games here, the wickets are going to get better here.
“We need to try to take powerplay wickets and need to have one big partnership in the middle. The last four games here the team batting second should have won the game. Last night’s game was an example and we played an identical game,” he said.
Earlier, a disciplined bowling performance and an impressive effort in the outfield helped Sunrisers pin down star-studded Royal Challengers to 149 for eight. Glenn Maxwell scored his seventh IPL half-century (59 off 41 balls) and his first since 2016.
West Indian all-rounder Jason Holder who walked into the XI replacing Mohammed Nabi led the bowling attack with figures of 3/30. Afghan legspinner Rashid Khan once again came out with a tight spell of 4-0-18-2.
The slow nature of Chepauk’s black-soil wicket and its variable bounce made it challenging for the batsmen. After a steady start, RCB reached 47 for one in powerplay. Devdutt Padikkal who returned to open the batting with Virat Kohli made a 13-ball 11.
Pinch-hitter Shahbaz Ahmed who came ahead of Maxwell hit a six over fine leg of left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem. However, Nadeem returned to remove Ahmed. A sliding Rashid took a superb catch at midwicket.
Nadeem then conceded 22 runs in the 11th over with Maxwell slamming a couple of sixes.
Kohli (33 off 29) and AB de Villiers fell in consecutive overs to leave RCB reeling at 95 for four in 13.4 overs. Kohli top-edged a Holder short ball and a sprinting Vijay Shankar pouched the skier.
In a shocker, de Villiers played it straight down David Warner's throat at short cover. It was the third time Rashid dismissed de Villiers in IPL.
The phase after Kohli walked back to the pavilion, RCB could only manage 18 runs off 28 balls, losing four wickets.