Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) Director of Cricket and head coach Mike Hesson said that the in-form all-rounder Glenn Maxwell’s run-out was the turning point of the game during RCB’s narrow four-run defeat against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday (October 7).
Chasing 142 in the 52nd game of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL 2021), Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) didn’t get a good start, as they lost Virat Kohli and Dan Christian for just 5 and 1 respectively and then Srikar Bharat for 12 against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).
However, Devdutt Padikkal (41) and Glenn Maxwell (40) managed to bring the RCB back into the game, but the all-rounder’s run-out in the 15th over changed the course of the game, as Bhuvneshwar Kumar successfully defended 13 in the final over to help SRH register a thrilling victory in Abu Dhabi.
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Hesson said during a virtual post-match press conference: “I think so (Maxwell's run-out being the turning point). The fact that Glenn Maxwell was scoring more than 10 runs per over, he was perhaps the only batter to have fluency on this surface and he was set.”
The coach further added, “He was the man we wanted at the crease, look it probably was the turning point. It probably did turn the game and we left a little too much for us to do in the end. We were not quite good enough in the key moments to get over the line.”
He signed off by saying, “It was in the first time out. It was a matter of the fact that Maxwell was going on, so Padikkal was playing the second-fiddle and he was rotating the strike. He played that role very nicely. But as we saw, it got harder to score and time. There were a few dot balls built up and in the second time-out, around the 15th over, we told Devdutt to take the initiative and take the pressure off the other new batters.”
Noteworthy, RCB will next take on Delhi Capitals on October 8 in Dubai in the ongoing IPL 2021.
(With ANI Inputs)
