For most batsmen in the UAE leg of this IPL, conditions at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium have been tough. But for Glenn Maxwell, it seemed a cakewalk on Sunday.

Trusting his natural game, Maxwell, or Maxi as he is fondly called, churned out a powerful knock that in the end proved to be a key factor in Royal Challengers Bangalore’s narrow six-run victory over Punjab Kings. That Virat Kohli’s team also sealed a play-offs berth with the win came as a bonus.

Cementing their No.3 spot with 16 points from 12 games, RCB have thus reached the last-four stage for the second successive occasion. In fact, Kohli can even gun for a top-two finish in the group stage if they win their remaining couple of matches.

Maxwell’s 33-ball 57 led RCB to a competitive total of 164/7, before Yuzvendra Chahal (3/27) used his guile well to trouble Punjab. Harshal Patel then bowled a superb final over as Punjab’s chase stopped at 158/6.

Focus on basics

The top run-getter — 407 runs — for RCB this season by a distance, Maxwell didn’t do anything different on the slow Sharjah wicket. He simply focused on his basics and backed his skills.

His hand-eye coordination being one of his big advantages, the dashing Australia all-rounder unleashed his trademark shots, including the switch-hit, to take the Punjab attack completely by surprise even after Moises Henriques’ triple strike threatened to derail RCB’s progress.

Winning the toss, skipper Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal gave their team a solid start. But from 68 without loss in the 10th over, RCB lost both openers as well as Dan Christian, who was promoted to No.3, for the addition of just five runs.

And that’s when Maxwell took over. He had the stalwart AB de Villiers for company at the other end of the wicket.

The 73-run stand between Maxwell and De Villiers turned out to be priceless in testing conditions.