Dubai: After playing a match-winning knock of 59 runs against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) all-rounder Glenn Maxwell said that he has benefited with the comfort of knowing that talisman AB de Villiers will be batting behind him.
RCB defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad by six runs in a thrilling encounter at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Wednesday. David Warner’s half-century had put Sunrisers on course for victory but Shahbaz Ahmed ran through the middle-order to help RCB register their second consecutive win of the tournament.
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“It’s a very nice start, new franchise for me and they have given me a specific role,” Maxwell told host broadcaster Star Sports. “To start like this is really nice. It’s nice to have batters behind you, you have freedom with AB to come and it’s a very similar role I have in the Australian cricket team. The support staff have been backing me as well. It’s just about using the experience. Get myself in and then go for the runs. Probably having those guys behind me is a luxury at RCB.
“Maybe was pushed a bit too deep and expected to go from ball one, which I am not pretty good at. Maybe a bit of culture thing as well. Obviously. I think it’s my 4th IPL team and there’s a bit of pressure. So it was really key for me to turn up and do well. I will wait for my chance to bowl. Washi is a superstar for us. The more I don’t bowl and hopefully I can keep contributing with the bat, the more happy I will be.”
Sunrisers won the toss and asked RCB to bat first. Maxwell scored a gutsy half-century to ensure that RCB, despite losing a flurry of wickets in the second half of their innings, set up a 150-run target.
Sunrisers were right on track for a win with David Warner and Manish Pandey stitching together an 83-run stand for the second wicket but the side collapsed in the middle overs. Sunrisers slumped from 96/1 to 123/6 within 4.4 overs and managed to reach 143/9 in their allotted 20 overs. Shahbaz picked three key wickets and delivered when RCB needed him the most.
