Sensational Shahbaz stuns SRH; leads RCB to a remarkable 6 run victory

It is said that in T20 cricket games can swing the other way within a blink of an eye. Something similar was witnessed in today’s RCB vs SRH game. SRH was cruising at 96-1 in the 14th over but soon were reduced to 130-7, thanks to some outstanding bowling by the RCB bowlers. Jamieson opened the floodgates with the wicket of David Warner(54) but it was the 17th over by Shahbaz Ahmed that buried SRH. The left-arm spinner picked up three wickets in the over and broke the spine of SRH batting, scripting a 6 run win for the RCB.

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Chasing a target of 150, Hyderabad didn’t get off to a good start and lost Wriddhiman Saha for 1. However, Warner and Manish Pandey steadied the ship and added 83 runs in 66 balls to set the game for SRH. The match once again exposed the vulnerabilities in the SRH middle order.

Earlier, Sunrisers Hyderabad won the toss and opted to bowl. The SRH bowlers were right on the money and bowled exceptional lines. Jason Holder gave SRH their first breakthrough and dismissed Davdutt Padikkal for 19. Shahbaz Ahmed played a couple of good shots but couldn’t convert his start and was dismissed for 14. Kohli, on the other hand, looked steady.

Maxwell was promoted ahead of De Villiers but Warner immediately introduced Rashid Khan. The leg spinners put the brakes on RCB’s inning as both, Maxwell and Kohli couldn’t break free. Maybe they were trying to play cautiously to Rashid. Whatever the case may be, RCB was going at just over six runs per over at the halfway mark and needed some quick runs. The momentum was provided in the 11th over when Maxwell and Kohli accumulated 22 runs of Shahbaz Nadeem. However, Kohli was dismissed by Holder in the next over. The hero of the last game, AB de Villiers followed soon after. While Maxwell was scoring briskly from one end, wickets kept on tumbling from the other. RCB eventually had to settle for 149 with Maxwell being dismissed on the final ball of the over.