I truly believed we could win with 150: Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli-led RCB astonished the Sunrisers Hyderabad by defending a low total of 149 runs in a brilliant way.

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Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli

RCB surprised the Sunrisers Hyderabad by defending a low total of 149 runs in a brilliant way. In pursuit of a 150-run target, the Orange Army dominated as skipper David Warner (54) and Manish Pandey stitched an 83-run partnership for the 2nd wicket. SRH lost an early wicket of wicket-keeper batsman Wriddhiman Saha (1). However, Warner and Pandey made the chase look easier as SRH needed 73 off the last 60 balls. But things turned out completely different after the dismissal of SRH skipper David Warner. Royal Challengers Bangalore made a terrific comeback in the game. Left-arm spinner Shahbaz Ahmed's match-winning performance turned the match upside down. He picked up three wickets in the 17th over to help Bangalore restrict Sunrisers to 143 for 9.

With the 6-run victory, RCB ended their 6-year-long wait for a win in their first two matches of an IPL season. Notably, Virat Kohli's team began their campaign with a hard-fought win over Mumbai Indians on April 9. From 115 for 2 in the 16th overs, Sunrisers Hyderabad lost seven wickets for just 28 runs. At the end of 20 overs, SRH fell short of RCB's 148-run target by just six runs. Left-arm spinner Shahbaz Ahmed was the star performer for RCB as he picked up three crucial wickets in the 17th over.

I think Glenn Maxwell's innings made the difference for us: Virat Kohli

Earlier, Hyderabad restricted RCB's batting unit to a par score of 149 for 8 in 20 overs. Hyderabad had won the toss and elected to bowl first at Chepauk. Virat Kohli managed to score 33, but Proteas batsman AB de Villiers got out early to Rashid Khan. However, Glenn Maxwell, who was bought for a whopping amount of Rs 14.25 crore, proved his worth once again. He scored 59 runs in 41 balls. The Australian all-rounder provided the much-needed impetus in the middle overs and stayed on till the final over. He smashed three sixes and five boundaries. It was Glenn Maxwell's first half-century in the tournament since 2016. All five Hyderabad bowlers finished among the wickets. Jason Holder, who featured in the game in place of Mohammad Nabi, lead the way with figures of 3 for 30. Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan picked up 2 wickets while Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan, and Shahbaz Nadeem, who replaced Sandeep Sharma in SRH's playing XI, taking a wicket each for SRH.

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Virat Kohli RCB Sunrisers Hyderabad IPL 2021