IPL 2021: Match 52, RCB vs SRH – Who Said What

Playing for only pride and nothing else, the Sunrisers Hyderabad emerged triumphant by just four runs against Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore in Abu Dhabi in a game of fine margins.

After being put in on a not the easiest of batting tracks, Sunrisers Hyderabad mustered only a par 141/7, losing their way in the slog overs courtesy of some impressive bowling by Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj and Dan Christian.

Patel added three more to his 2021 IPL tally and now holds the record for most wickets in a season by an Indian bowler, while Christian bagged 2/14. Siraj and Shahbaz Ahmed might not have managed to get a wicket but ensured to keep the runs under check, giving only 38 runs in their seven overs combined.

After the early loss of Abhishek Sharma, SRH were brought on track with a dominant 70-run partnership between Jason Roy (44 off 38) and Kane Williamson (31 off 29) for the second wicket, however, RCB bowlers struck thrice in quick succession after Williamson’s dismissal to reduce SRH from 104/2 to 105/5. Though Wirddhiman Saha and Jason Holder did their best to accelerate in the death, RCB managed to keep them quiet for the larger part.

The chase for RCB started ominously as they lost both Virat Kohli and Dan Chrisitan inside the powerplay and KS Bharat soon after to be reduced to 38/3. That was when their ship was steadied by Devdutt Padikkal and Glenn Maxwell, with the former playing an anchor through his 52-ball 41. Maxwell, the aggressor, smacked three fours and a couple of sixes in his 40-run knock but Williamson caught him short hid ground to change the course of the game.

Each of SRH’s bowlers bagged a wicket but it was Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Umran Malik who stood out. The latter raised eyebrows aplenty with his record pace, while Kumar (1/25) managed to defend 13 off the final over against AB de Villiers to take his team to a thrilling win.

Winning skipper and Player of the Match Kane Williamson:

It’s been a tough season and it’s great to see some of those small improvements. To see those small adjustments was good, we thought that total was competitive and we saw that fight throughout the ball as well. I was just trying to maximize the powerplay and the ball was holding on the surface and we were fortunate to build a partnership and we knew things wouldn’t happen quickly from a bowling perspective, but we knew if we held our nerve and stay there for longer periods, we can build that pressure. Game was getting tight and dismissing him (Maxwell) one way or the other was the key, they are a fantastic side and even though we are not in contention it was great to see the fight. He certainly is special (on Umran Malik). We saw him in the nets in the last couple of seasons and he is a real competitor and is proving to be effective even on slower surfaces. He’s got a lot of mates in the team as well and that helps in sharing the knowledge. It’s a great opportunity for the younger guys to get involved and hopefully we will keep learning and we go again on Friday. Lot of last over finishes and we keep trying and applying ourselves and the surfaces haven’t allowed for any rhythm and it’s good to see the win tonight.

Losing skipper Virat Kohli:

I don’t think so, the intent has to be to try and get it done as soon as possible. We don’t want to stretch these games too deep, but having lost a couple of early wickets, rebuilding was key. Maxi’s [Maxwell] run-out was the game-changing moment in terms of momentum and Maxi was in the zone to get a couple of big overs. With AB [de Villiers] you are never out of the game, but it is about making sure that the guy who’s in flow is on strike in the crucial moments. We had a good first half with the ball but not as effective with the bat chasing that down. Shahbaz [Ahmed] played a crucial knock at that stage, it is a game of small margins, I think Sunrisers held their nerve and bowled out their last few deliveries pretty well to not allow us to get us those big hits we were looking for. He’s bowling pretty well now, looks like he’s worked on his bowling after all the time off and is back to the bowling way we know he can. Him bowling well has always been a good sign for the team. He’s been magnificent with the ball [on Yuzvendra Chahal’s resurgence]. This tournament throws up talent every year, good to see a guy bowling at 150 clicks [on Umran Malik]. It is important to understand the progress of individuals from hereon. The pool of fast bowlers being strong is always a good sign for Indian cricket and whenever you see talent like this, you are going to have your eyes on them and make sure you maximise their potential which is already being seen at the IPL level. We have been very professional as a team to handle both losses and victories, we haven’t been over the top or too low with losses. A little hiccup in the journey but we carry on with the same momentum.