IPL 14 :2021 

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) 149/8 in 20 Overs (Glen Maxwell 59, Virat Kohli 33, Jason Holder 3/30, Rashid Khan 2/18) 
Sun Risers Hyderabad (SRH) 143/9 in 20 Overs (David Warner 54 , Manish Pandey 38,Shabaz Ahmed 3/7, Harshal Patel 2/25, Mohammad Siraj 2/25) 
RCB Won By 6 Runs 
Player of The Match: Glen Maxwell.

RCB won yet another close match defending 149/8 while SRH failed chasing the modest target finishing at 143/9. After winning the first match against Champions Mumbai Indians this win put RCB at the top of the ladder. On the other hand, after losing to KKR in the first match it was second defeat on the trot for SRH. 

As more and more matches are showing nail-biting finish, teams loosing astonishingly from winning positions people are getting more and more concerned about the fairness of the IPL matches.  Yesterday two T20 matches were going on simultaneously in two different parts of the world. At Centurion Park in South Africa depleted South Africa scoring 203/5 failed to defend it against Babar Azam inspired Pakistan. At Chepak Chennai RCB successfully defended only 149/8 winning by 6 runs. Off course circumstances alter cases. But when four wickets fell for 16 runs chasing a modest target few raises genuine questions in a match featuring quality international players. 

Sluggish Chepauk wicket usually gets slower as the match progresses. The best time for batting at the ground is when the ball is new. SRH managed wrenching control of the match early taking regular wickets. But the prized catch Glen Maxwell defying quality bowling of SRH binding the innings together with a reasonably paced 59. Without his innings RCB score could look miserable as Jason Holder (3/30) and Rashid Khan (2/15) really squeezed strong RCB. Still 149/9 was a score well below par defending. 

All that SRH required was a good opening partnership and a couple of reasonable partnership. David Warner (54) and Manish Pandey (38) producing 83 for the 2nd wicket partnership set the stage for them. But once they got out rest of the batsmen failed living up to their reputation. The way SRH middle order crumbled like cookies against Shahbaz (3/7) and Harshal Patel (2/25) raised many eye brows about the fairness of the match. RR lost by 6 runs raising genuine expectation of a win.

BDST: 1105 HRS, APR 15, 2021
SMS