SRH dent RCB's chance to get top-two finish with upset four-run win
Abu Dhabi, Oct 6: Royal Challengers Bangalore made a mess of their run chase as bottom-placed Sunrisers Hyderabad dented their hopes of a top-two finish with a narrow four-run win in a last-over IPL thriller, here on Wednesday.
After putting on board a modest 141 for 7, SRH returned to limit RCB to 137 for six for only their third win in the league.
Chasing the total, Devdutt Padikkal (41) and Glenn Maxwell (40) scored bulk of the runs but RCB kept losing wickets and faltered in the end.
Defending 18 off last two overs, Jason Holder bowled a superb over, giving away just five runs for one wicket.
AB de Villiers smashed a six in the fourth ball of the final over bowled by Bhuvneshwar Kumar but couldn't take the team home as the South African could not pull off a six the team needed in the last ball.
Earlier, opener Jason Roy (44) shared a 58-ball 70 run stand with skipper Kane Williamson (31) to set the platform but SRH lost three quick wickets for two runs in seven balls to eventually end up with a below-par total.
RCB were dealt an early blow in their chase when Bhuvneshwar trapped Virat Kohli in the first over.
The decision to promote Daniel Christian at number 3 also didn't work as he was deceived by a slower delivery by Siddarth Kaul.
At 18 for 2, Srikar Bharat joined hands with Devdutt Padikkal and produced two handsome shots for a six and a four to take RCB to 37 for 2 in six overs.
New pace sensation Umran Malik then struck in his fifth delivery, removing Bharat as RCB slipped to 38 for 2.
New-man in Maxwell made his intent clear, clobbering Rashid Khan for a maximum. He repeated the treatment again, sending the Afghan spinner over long-on and then sweeping him for another four.
But with Malik clocking 150km plus consistently, RCB decided to target the other bowlers.
However, a poor call by Padikkal ended with Maxwell being runout, while the former too was caught at the boundary line as RCB further slumped to 109 for 4 in 16.5 overs.
Needing 29 off 18 balls, Shahbaz Ahmed smashed two fours to bring the equation down before being dismissed by Holder in the 19th over.
For RCB, Harshal Patel (3/33) and Daniel Christian (2/14) did the maximum demage after skipper Virat Kohli opted to bowl.
Spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal (1/27) and Shahbaz Ahmed (0/21) kept things in check, while George Garton conceded 29 runs in two overs for his one wicket.
Abhishek Sharma, asked to open the innings, smashed a four and a six off Garton in the second over before holing out to Maxwell.
Williamson started off with a good-looking cover drive and then pulled one from Siraj for another boundary through square leg.
The New Zealand skipper was all elegance as he played two sweetly-timed shots for two more hits to the fence off Garton
Left-arm spinner Shahbaz attacked the stumps but when he erred Roy was quick to pull him through square leg.
After the end of Powerplay, SRH were 50 for 1.
Spin duo of Shahbaz and Chahal bowled in tandem, not allowing the batsmen to free their arms.
While Roy lived dangerously, Williamson's stumps were knocked off by Patel with a cutter when he tried to create room for himself as SRH slipped to 84 for 2 in 12th over.
Priyam Garg smashed a six off Chahal before being caught by AB de Villiers off Christian in the next over.
Five balls later, Christian pulled off a sensational catch off his own bowling to remove the well-set Roy. Chahal trapped Abdul Samad infront of wicket in the first ball of the next over as SRH slumped to 107 for 5 in 15.1 overs.
Wriddhiman Saha was next done in by a slower delivery by Patel.
Rashid (7 not out) and Holder (16) tried to accelerate before the latter fell in the last ball.
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Catholic Bishops' body slams Bhagwat's remarks
New Delhi: The Catholic Bishops' Conference of India on Thursday slammed RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat for his reported remark that Pranab Mukherjee, when he was President, had said tribals would turn "anti-national" if there is no "ghar wapsi"Catholic Bishops.'
In a statement issued here, CBCI, a body of Catholic Bishops, referred to reports which said Bhagwat, at an event on Monday, claimed that Mukherjee, while he was President had appreciated ghar wapsi and told him that had it not been for the Sangh's work on reconversion, a section of Adivasis would have turned "anti-national".The CBCI called the report "shocking".
"Fabricated personal conversation being attributed to a former president of India and its posthumous publication with the vested interest of an organization with questionable credibility raises a grave issue of national importance," the CBCI claimed.
"Is it not the violent ghar wapsi program of VHP and other similar organizations, curtailing the exercise of freedom of conscience of economically deprived tribals, the real anti-national activity?" it asked.
'Ghar wapsi' is a term used by the RSS and affiliated organisations to refer to reconversion of Muslims and Christians to Hinduism, based on the belief that they were originally Hindus before converting to other religions.
The CBCI also questioned why Bhagwat did not speak about it while Mukherjee was alive.
"We, the 2.3 percent of Indian citizens who are Christians feel extremely hurt by such manipulated and motivated propaganda unleashed," it said.
In a post on X following the statement issued by CBCI, Trinamool Congress leader Derek O'Brien said, "Speak up. This is a start!"
"Bishops body have issued a statement condemning remarks made by Dr Mohan Bhagwat and RSS for defaming the Christian community," he said.
O'Brien added that they should ask Prime Minister Narendra Modi more questions, including why Christmas Day has been turned into "Good Governance Day".
The TMC leader, in a blogpost earlier this month, had said "hard questions" must be asked to the government with regards to the Christian community, including why the FCRA has been 'weaponised', and why has Manipur been 'ignored'.
