Buttler is out bowled by Mohammed Siraj! Siraj has truly proven himself as a champion. He has dismissed Buttler before in IPL, and this time he knocks over the middle stump with a cunning nip-backer. Siraj’s bowling technique involves inswingers to LHBs and setting up RHBs with the outswinger.
His scrambled seam ball, outswing and intent have been troubling batsmen worldwide, even without a proper inswinger to the right hander. Siraj’s rise is truly an inspiring story.
RR made a terrific comeback, as the last 5 overs of the match produced only 33 runs. Maxwell’s dismissal was the turning point, as RCB collapsed soon after. Kohli’s early dismissal, for the second time in a row in the Green game, put RCB in a tough spot. Shahbaz, promoted to 3, also did not last long, and then Faf and Maxwell counter-attacked aggressively to put up a big partnership worth 127 runs.
However, just when RR was feeling the pressure, Jaiswal’s direct-hit got Faf out. Ashwin got Maxwell out with the last ball of his spell, and RCB never quite recovered from that. Boult and Chahal were outstanding for RR, especially the latter, who used his experience to bowl slower, wider outside off and not give the batters any room to hit.
RR’s fielding was also impressive, as they saved around 10-15 runs by throwing themselves to save runs. Although Kohli reckoned at the toss that the pitch would get progressively drier and tougher to bat on, the target of 190 can still be chased down.