- Tuesday, February 25, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
ROYAL Challengers Bangalore’s (RCB) plans to end up in the top two teams in the points table in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 received a blow on Wednesday (6) when they narrowly lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), placed at the bottom of the table, by four runs.
The loss meant Virat Kohli’s team remains in the third place in the points table with 16 points from 13 games, with one match to go – against table-toppers Delhi Capitals in Dubai on Friday (8).
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On Wednesday, Kohli won the toss and sent Kane Williamson’s side to bat first in Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi. Hyderabad lost Abhishek Sharma (13 off 10 deliveries) early but the other opener – Jason Roy (44 off 38) and skipper Williamson (31 off 29) – added 70 runs for the second wicket in less than 10 overs. But after Williamson fell, SRH saw a mini collapse, losing two more for just two runs. Jason Holder’s 16 off 13 and wicket-keeper-batsmen Wriddhiman Saha’s 10 off eight added some brisk runs towards the end to help the 2016 champions finish at 141 for 7 in 20 overs.
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For Bangalore, Harshal Patel took three wickets for 33 and Dan Christian picked two for 14.
Chasing the target, RCB lost Kohli (5 off 4) and Christian (1 off 4) early and they were followed by keeper-batsman Srikar Bharat (12 off 10). Opener Devdutt Padikkal (41 off 52) and Glenn Maxwell (40 off 25) then added vital 54 runs for the fourth wicket in seven overs but once they departed in a gap of 17 runs, RCB started losing their way. Even a big-hitter like AB de Villiers (19 not out off 13), who came out to bat at No.6, could not give the finishing touches as the three-time runners-up finished at 137 for 6, falling a little short of the target.
For SRH, five bowlers took a wicket each with young pacer Umran Malik, who is from Jammu and Kashmir, finishing with the best average with 1 for 21 in four overs.
Williamson was adjudged the player of the match.
SRH have already been knocked out of the tournament with just three wins out of 13 outings and they finish their campaign on Friday when they take on defending champions Mumbai Indians in Abu Dhabi.
