Royal Challengers Bangalore bounced back after a loss to the Chennai Super Kings after securing a comprehensive victory over the Delhi Capitals, taking their tally up to eight points in this edition of the Indian Premier League.
The Capitals will be disappointed with the loss after establishing the upper hand at the start of both innings, only to throw it away, eventually managing only a 16-run loss to Faf du Plessis’ men. The vastly experienced Dinesh Karthik continued his mercurial form in this year’s tournament, scoring a brilliant half-century when his side was in deep trouble to almost single-handedly salvage the game for the Men in Red.
Josh Hazlewood, Mohammed Siraj, and the mighty impressive Harshal Patel did extremely well with the ball for the Royal Challengers after David Warner looked to take the game away. The win takes RCB up to third place on the points table, becoming one of only three teams to get four wins.
Du Plessis’ toss-winning streak was broken by Delhi skipper Rishabh Pant, who did exactly the expected, putting RCB in to bat. The Delhi Capitals had a splendid start, as RCB opener Anuj Rawat was trapped in front by Shardul Thakur off the very first ball he faced.
Faf could not get going once more, throwing away his wicket after stepping down to Khaleel Ahmed. Former captain Virat Kohli, and Glenn Maxwell, were looking good as they undertook the task of rebuilding the innings.
The Australian was at his fluent best, something we have come to expect of him, after his sterling campaign last time around. However, Virat’s nightmare continued as he was the victim of another freak run-out, ending his innings in a premature fashion.
Maxwell carried on brilliantly with Prabhudesai at the other end, hardly bothering about who was bowling at him. Maxwell was playing each ball on its merit but managed to send a fair amount of them into the fence as he got to a wonderful half-century. However, he could not continue for long, as a miscue off Kuldeep Yadav brought about his end.
Suyash Prabhudesai fell shortly before Maxwell’s dismissal, which brought Shahbaz Ahmed and Karthik into the middle. With the RCB struggling at 92/5, they had to rely on their messiah Dinesh and the dependable Shahbaz.
Karthik carried on his scintillating form this season, as he played second fiddle to Shahbaz until he got set, post which he went absolutely berserk. Karthik made a mockery of the Delhi bowling attack, smashing it to all parts of the ground, piercing the gaps and manipulating the field in a masterclass on death overs batting. He got to a fantastic half-century in 26 balls and finished on 66* in 34 balls to take RCB to 189/5. Ahmed also maintained his consistency with another priceless knock of 32*.
Delhi started off well, with Prithvi Shaw and Warner both getting off the blocks extremely quickly. They made the most out of the powerplay, scoring at ten an over before Siraj got rid of Shaw, who was looking extremely dangerous. Warner carried on his assault and added to his fabulous record against RCB with another wonderful half-century.
Warner was looking absolutely imperious, as he threatened to take the game away from the RCB. However, his partner at the other end, Mitch Marsh, looked all at sea against the bowling, barely able to lay bat on the ball and slumping to 13 in 23 deliveries.
Warner was trapped in front of Wanindu Hasaranga after a failed switch hit, piling the pressure back on the Capitals. Marsh struggled for a bit longer before an unfortunate run-out perhaps came as a blessing to him, sending him back. Faf used his bowlers extremely well to contain Pant after Hazlewood dismissed both Rovman Powell and Lalit Yadav in the same over.
Harshal Patel was once again fabulous in the death with the wet ball, as he choked the Delhi batsmen to take the RCB home by 16 runs. Siraj and Josh Hazlewood also did well with the ball, a huge positive for the Challengers. The win ensured that RCB climbed up to third spot with a healthy boost to their net run rate as well.
Brief scores
Royal Challengers Bangalore 189/5 (Dinesh Karthik-66*; Maxwell-55; Thakur-1/27) beat Delhi Capitals 173/7 ( Warner-66; Pant-34; Hazlewood-3/28) by 16 runs
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