Royal Challengers Bengaluru did not give up in their quest to qualify for the Indian Premier League playoffs, beating Delhi Capitals by 47 runs at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Sunday.
In a must-win match for both sides, Faf du Plessis’ men defended a modest-looking 187 to record their fifth win on the trot and move up to fifth in the table (12 points).
DC lost impact player David Warner early, but Jake Fraser-McGurk hit Mohammed Siraj with a six and a double to kick off the hot chase.
RCB vs DC – What Happened
However, the ball hit pacer Yash Dayal’s left hand and was run out at the non-striker’s end, and Abishek Porel’s delivery after a fall left DC at 3 for 24.
Shai Hope (29, 23b, 4×4) and stand-in skipper Axar Patel (57, 39b, 5×4, 3×6) looked to kickstart the chase but could not prevent their play-off chances from taking a huge hit.
Shai Hope (29, 23b, 4×4) and stand-in skipper Axar Patel (57, 39b, 5×4, 3×6) attempted to start the chase but the out-of-form Tristan Stubbs was run out while trying for a non-existent single. That meant the Capitals’ playoff qualification took a huge hit.
Asked to bat first, RCB looked ready for much more as they scored 61 runs in the PowerPlay and were 110 for 2 after 10 overs. However, the collapse in the lower-middle order meant the home side was unable to build on the fine efforts of Virat Kohli (27, 13b, 1×4, 3×6), Will Jacks (41, 29b, 3×4, 2×6) and Rajat Patidar (52). , 32b, 3×4, 3×6).
Kohli started majestically, hitting Ishant Sharma to mid-wicket for a six over before going straight down to ground and dispatching Khaleel Ahmed over the bowler’s head. Kohli and Ishant also shared some friendly banter, but it was the latter who caught up with Kohli who had the last laugh.
Patidar and Jacks maintained the momentum with the spin duo of Axar and Kuldeep Yadav carrying them to all parts. The visitors didn’t help themselves with their sloppy defence. Off Kuldeep in the 9th over, Axar dropped Jack back to mid-on and Shai Hope got Patidar to the turf at long-on. On the 11th, Axar took Rasikh Salam under cover and rescued Patidar.
Strangely enough, that shoddy incident disrupted RCB’s batting rhythm. Not a single six came from 10 to 16 overs and with Mahipal Lomror, Dinesh Karthik and Swapnil Singh dismissed in six-ball windows, RCB failed to flourish in the end overs. In the end, none of that mattered.
