RCB shocked SRH by 6 runs in the dominating death overs performance by Shabaz Ahmed who picked up 3 wickets in an over to turn the game upside down in match 6 at Chennai.
Shahbaz Ahmed (3/7) dished out a match-winning performance for RCB against SRH in match number 6 at Chennai, IPL 2021.
Losing the toss and being asked to bat first, RCB made a total of 149 on the back of Glenn Maxwell’s thrilling 59 (41).
SRH ended up on 143 as Shahbaz picked up Manish Pandey(38), Jonny Bairstow(12) and Abdul Samad(0) in one single over. The victory put RCB on top of the points table.
SRH, while chasing this easy target, lost their opener, Wriddhiman Saha on 1 in the third over. David Warner and Pandey were looking in fine touch as they made the chase into child’s play. SRH needed 73 in 10 overs.
David Warner finally got dismissed in the 14th over as Kyle Jamieson got the better of him in an off-cutter. RCB gained confidence after his dismissal and with the pressure building on SRH, Shahbaz picked up three in an over including Bairstow, Pandey and Samad in the 17th over.
Vijay Shankar and Jason Holder struggled but could not do much. Rashid Khan put some hope in the SRH line-up after scoring 18 (9) after he got run out and RCB got successful in restricting their opponent on 143.
Earlier, SRH bowlers did a fantastic job as Jason Holder (3/30) and star spinner Rashid Khan (2/18) picked up wickets at regular intervals.
From RCB, Maxwell was the top performer as he scored 59 (41), skipper Virat Kohli (33), Shahbaz Ahmed (14), and Kyle Jamieson (12) made a valuable contribution to the target.
RCB started quite decently after Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal hot boundaries in the first overs. But finally, Bhuvneshwar Kumar picked up the left-hander on 11. Shahbaz was next on the list, leaving RCB on 47/2.
At the halfway, Maxwell and Kohli did some hitting with two sixes and two fours in the 11th over of Shahbaz Nadeem. Both of them made a steady 44 runs stand before Jason Holder got rid of the skipper.
David Warner introduced Rashid Khan from there on and the decision proved worthy as he picked up the power hitter, AB de Villiers on just 1, caught by Warner at covers.
Rashid struck again and this time it was Washington Sundar who went back to the pavilion on 8.
Dan Christian also went cheap and followed the path of rest before Maxwell hit three fours and a maximum in the final three overs.