IPL 2021: Glenn Maxwell's Dismissal Probably Turned The Game, States Mike Hesson

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) head coach Mike Hesson mentioned Australian batsman Glenn Maxwell’s dismissal as the reason for the team’s defeat.

RCB lost to Kane Williamson’s Sunrisers Hyderabad on Wednesday by four runs at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi and hence they lost an opportunity to finish in the top two spots.

Riding on opener Jason Roy (44) and skipper Williamson’s (31) knocks SRH posted 141/7 on a sluggish track where the ball was hard to connect for the batters.

SRH’s lead pace bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar gave them the perfect start to defend the total as he got rid of RCB skipper Virat Kohli in the very first over of the innings.

Siddharth Kaul got the wicket of Daniel Christian using a knuckle-ball as ECB were 18/2 at one stage. Maxwell, who has been in brilliant form in this tournament, joined Devdutt Padikkal at the crease.

Glenn Maxwell takes Rashid Khan to cleaners

The Australian swashbuckling all-rounder continued his audacious strokeplay as he welcomed Rashid Khan with a six over deep mid-wicket and in his next over he clobbered the leg-spinner for a six and a four.

Maxwell was going very well on a tricky surface where other batters were trying to find their momentum but it was the first ball of the 15th over that brought SRH back in the game.

Devudtt Padikkal tapped towards the cover region and called for a quick single with Williamson making a direct hit with a slide at the striker’s end to sent Maxwell back in the dugout.

Glenn Maxwell was probably the man we wanted at the crease: Mike Hesson

RCB could not finish the game as AB de Villiers failed to clear the rope in the final ball of the game as Bhuvneshwar Kumar successfully defended 13 runs for his side to take pride from here.

“Glenn was the only batsman who got any fluency on that surface and he was set, so he was probably the man we wanted at the crease so, it probably was. It bounced up nicely for the fielder and then an exceptional piece of work for the runout,” Hesson said in his post-match virtual press conference.

Probably turned the game but, we just left a little bit too much to do at the end. We weren’t quite good enough in those key moments to get over the line,” Hesson told the media after the match,” he added. 

For the second time in a row, Christian was promoted up the batting order to find his rhythm and add some important runs in the top but the Australian all-rounder failed to justify the team management’s decision as he registered scores of 1 & 0.

“We felt that the powerplay was probably the easiest time to score. So we gave Dan Christian a bit of a license in the last couple of games – just to go out, try and attack and get us ahead of the game. Obviously, it hasn’t worked on either occasion,” Hesson mentioned.

RCB will play their final league stage match against Delhi Capitals on Friday (October 8) at the Dubai International Stadium.

Also Read: IPL 2021: Dismissing Glenn Maxwell One Way Or Other Was The Key – Kane Williamson After SRH’s 4-Run Win Over RCB