Shahbaz Ahmed, the left-arm spinner, took three wickets in one over as Sunrisers Hyderabad suffered a dramatic collapse.
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Sunrisers Hyderabad were cruising towards their total of 150. At 96/1 in the 14th over and with David Warner on 54, it looked like Sunrisers Hyderabad would continue their winning run. However, Kyle Jamieson got the wicket of Warner. Royal Challengers Bangalore managed to apply the choke on Sunrisers Hyderabad. The next two overs saw just 11 runs. Yet, Sunrisers Hyderabad were in a good position. At 115/2 in 16 overs, with 35 needed off 24 balls, the game was still theirs.
However, in the 17th over, Shahbaz Ahmed changed the entire complexion of the game. The left-armer bowled a flighted delivery and Jonny Bairstow toe-ended the slog sweep to short midwicket. Ahmed then removed Manish Pandey with a quicker ball that had him stumped. Vijay Shankar avoided the hat-trick but on the final ball, he had Abdul Samad caught and bowled.
In the space of six balls, Ahmed conceded one run and took three wickets. Royal Challengers Bangalore got the toe-hold and they never let go. Sunrisers Hyderabad would be six runs short. After the match, there was plenty of queries as to why Ahmed came onto the attack late.
In a video on Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Twitter handle, Ahmed said his introduction was delayed due to Warner.
“Warner played so long that’s why I got the 17th over. The wicket was helping as it was offering grip and the captain knew that. Those two overs changed the game for us. I’m happy to contribute to my team’s victory,” Ahmed stated.
Shahbaz Ahmed was born in Mewat, Haryana on 26 December 1994. In 25 T20s, he has taken 24 wickets at an economy rate of 6.85. His haul of 3/7 against Sunrisers Hyderabad is his best haul in T20s. With the bat, he is more than capable. He averages 32 in First Class matches, 39 in List A with one century and has a strike rate of 120 in the shorter format of the game.
Ahmed has featured prominently for Bengal in domestic cricket. In the 2019/20 Ranji season, Ahmed picked up 35 wickets and was one of the key players for the side. In 2020, Royal Challengers Bangalore took him and he played only two games.
