IPL 2022: Faf du Plessis all praise for Shahbaz Ahmed post RCB win over RR
Royal Challengers Bangalore handed Rajasthan Royals its first defeat of IPL 2022. RCB skipper Faf du Plessis hailed Shahbaz Ahmed as a big hitter.
FollowIt was an entertaining encounter between former two-time champion Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in Match 13 of the 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL). Played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Tuesday, RCB registered a four-wicket win in the final over, while RR suffered its first season defeat. In the meantime, RCB skipper Faf du Plessis praised young hitter Shahbaz Ahmed.
Shahbaz slammed a 26-ball 45 to set up RCB’s chase perfectly, as it chased down the target of 170 efficiently, with five balls to spare. After the match, du Plessis referred to Shahbaz as a “small skinny guy” who can hit the ball miles. Explaining why he was not allowed to ball, he stated that it was mainly due to the wet ball, while he will be a vital part of the bowling unit from now on.
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Lauding Dinesh Karthik for his match-winning innings of an unbeaten 44, du Plessis expressed, “To pull it out of nowhere, you need some great characters, and DK is as great a character as you can get. His composure under pressure is amazing. He is calm and such a great asset to us.”
“We bowled well, up to the 18th over, and then Jos [Buttler] got some good shots. We got a score that we thought was slightly above-par with the conditions and the surface spinning. We started quite well, but then Yuzi [Yuvendra Chahal] bowled well to get them back in. But, for me, the great thing about today once again was our ability to come back to win games out of nowhere,” further added Du Plessis.
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Match summary
Winning the toss, RCB opted to bowl, as RR played slow and steady innings to post a par total of 169/3, with Buttler scoring an unbeaten 70, while it was a top bowling effort from RCB. As for the chase, RCB stayed in it for most of the time, with Karthik and Shahbaz batting flexibly towards the end to see it out comfortably by four wickets.
Brief scores: RR 169/3 (Buttler- 70*, Padikkal- 37, Hetmyer- 42; Willey- 1/29) lost to RCB 173/6 in 19.1 overs (Shahbaz- 45, Karthik- 44; Chahal- 2/15) by four wickets.
