Highlights:
- RCB lost their hopes of finishing in the top two after suffering loss against SRH.
- RCB could not chase a total of 142, despite Glenn Maxwell’s quick cameo of 40 from 25 balls.
- Bhuvneshwar & Holder bowled two superb overs in the final stage to ensure RCB did not win.
Bottom-placed Sunrisers Hyderabad crushed Royal Challengers Bangalore’s chances of finishing in the top two with a tight four-run victory in a last-over IPL game in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday. After scoring a modest 141 for 7, SRH returned to restrict RCB to 137 for six, giving them only their third league victory. Chasing the target of 142, Devdutt Padikkal (41) and Glenn Maxwell (40) scored the most of the runs, but Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) continued to lose wickets and fell short in the end. Jason Holder bowled a fantastic over, giving up only five runs for one wicket while defending 18 off the last two overs.
AB de Villiers hit a six on the fourth ball of the last over delivered by Bhuvneshwar Kumar but couldn’t win games because the South African couldn’t get the crucial six in the final delivery.
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Earlier, opener Jason Roy (44) and skipper Kane Williamson (31) put on a 58-ball 70-run partnership to set the tone, but SRH lost three fast wickets for two runs in seven balls to finish with a below-par total.
The Royal Challengers Bangalore were hit an early setback in their chase as Bhuvneshwar Kumar caught Virat Kohli in the first over.
The plan to elevate Daniel Christian to number three also failed because he was misled by Siddarth Kaul’s delayed delivery.
Srikar Bharat linked hands with Devdutt Padikkal at 18 for 2 and hit two beautiful strokes for a six and a four to lift RCB to 37 for 2 in six overs.
New pace sensation Umran Malik then struck on his sixth delivery, eliminating Bharat from the game as RCB fell to 38 for 2.
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Maxwell, the newcomer, made his intentions known by clobbering Rashid Khan for a maximum. He repeated the technique, sending the Afghan spinner long-on and then sweeping him for four more runs.
However, with Malik consistently hitting 150km+, RCB opted to focus on the other bowlers.
However, a bad decision by Padikkal resulted in Maxwell being runout, while the former was also caught at the boundary line, as RCB fell to 109 for 4 in 16.5 overs.
Shahbaz Ahmed blasted two fours to reduce the equation down to 29 off 18 balls before being removed by Holder in the 19th over. When skipper Virat Kohli opted to bowl, Harshal Patel (3/33) and Daniel Christian (2/14) caused tremendous damage for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).
Shahbaz Ahmed (0/21) and Yuzvendra Chahal (1/27) kept things under check, but George Garton gave 29 runs in two overs and took just one wicket.
Abhishek Sharma, who was given the opportunity to open the innings, blasted a four and a six off Garton’s second over before holing out to Maxwell.
Williamson began with a solid cover drive before pulling one from Siraj for another boundary through square leg.
The New Zealand captain was all elegance as he played two well-timed strokes for two more knocks to the boundary off Garton. Shahbaz stormed the stumps, but Roy was about to drag him through square leg when he tripped.
SRH were 50 for 1 at the end of powerplay. The spin pair of Shahbaz and Chahal bowled in tandem, preventing the batsmen from releasing their arms.
While Roy was living dangerously, Williamson’s stumps were knocked out by Patel with a cutter and SRH slid to 84 for 2 in the 12th over.
In the following over, Priyam Garg hit a six off Chahal before being caught by AB de Villiers off Christian. Five balls later, Christian took a spectacular catch off his own bowling to dismiss the well-set Roy.
With the first delivery of the next over, Chahal trapped Abdul Samad in front of the wicket, reducing Hyderabad to 107 for 5 in 15.1 overs. Patel’s slower delivery then took out Wriddhiman Saha. Rashid (7 not out) and Holder (16) both attempted to accelerate before the latter was caught on the last ball.