Afghanistan’s all-rounder Mohammad Nabi, who is playing for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League (IPL), bowled a dream spell of four for 11 to fashion a thumping 118-run win for the Orange Army at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium on Sunday.
Sunday’s match was Nabi’s first match of this season for Sunrisers.
It was a no-show from Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in an IPL match against Bhuvneshwar Kumar-led Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Sunrisers’ Jonny Bairstow and David Warner slammed quickfire centuries to dent the visitors before the wily off-spinner from Afghanistan.
Nabi dismissed Parthiv Patel, Shimron Hetmyer, AB de Villiers and Shivam Dube to pick up his seventh four-wicket haul in T20 cricket.
Chasing a massive total of 232, RCB lost the script very early thanks to Nabi’s variations in pace, flight and spin.
The way he outfoxed Shimron Hetmyer to get him stumped by Bairstow and then cleaned up AB de Villiers with a slower one, was a treat to watch.
And, when he finished his impressive spell which included 16 dot balls, Nabi had ruled RCB out of the match at 38 for six in eight overs.
Compounding RCB’s misery was Kohli’s dismissal off seam bowler Sandeep Sharma. The skipper leant into the drive but drilled it straight into the hands of Warner at cover.
This was RCB’s third straight loss and SRH’s second win in three games.
