SRH vs RCB: Low Scoring Drama Ends In ‘Hurtful’ Loss For David Warner’s Hyderabad

IPL is not meant for people with weak hearts. The sea-saw nature of almost all the matches played is a testimony of the sheer entertainment value of the cash-rich league.

Image Courtesy: AFP

IPL 2021: Royal Challengers Bangalore beat Sunrisers Hyderabad in a match that was deemed as ‘a bitter pill to swallow’ by the SRH captain David Warner. He was disappointed and rightly so. At one point in the match, SRH needed 42 off 30 balls, which is a gettable target under any circumstances in T20. Plus, SRH had eight wickets in hand at that moment.

After David Warner got out in the 14^th over, things were very much in favor of SRH. But the twist in the tale arrived in the 17^th over of the match which was bowled by a young left-arm spinner Shahbaz Ahmed. Take a look at the figures of that 17^th over in this tweet below:

Shahbaz picked Manish Pandey, Jonny Bairstow and Abdul Samad, all of whom are capable of hitting the ball far. This over set the stage for an epic RCB comeback. Harshal Patel, the purple cap holder, and Mohammed Siraj bowled two good overs at the end. Thus, 16 were required of the last over which the SRH batsman couldn’t hit.

Earlier in the match, RCB had scored 149 runs courtesy of a scratchy innings by Glenn Maxwell. Click here for the full scorecard of the match.

What did the captains say after the match?

David Warner: “A very bitter pill to swallow. Our bowlers were fantastic to restrict them. Maxwell batted well and set the platform. We needed two set batsmen at the end, but we failed to do that. We needed to build a partnership and play proper cricket shots. We played cross batted shots, and that's not the way to play here. This hurts.”

Virat Kohli: “Not as exhausted as I am proud. It was a top game for us, the wicket is going to get challenging, we saw that yesterday. You are never really out of the game in these conditions. We have more bowling options and those extra bowling options made those impact performances in the middle overs. I told the guys don't think that we struggled to get to 149. I believed we could win with 150.”

Glenn Maxwell was adjudged ‘Man of the Match’ for his batting performance. But to be fair to RCB, the match was won by their three bowlers; Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj and Shahbaz Ahmed.

The next match will be played in Mumbai between Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Capitals at 7:30 pm.