IPL DC vs RCB Match Report: Delhi specialists’ all-round effort takes them to the top in a royal way

Image: IPL/BCCI/Twitter

In a tough chase of 197 runs against one of the most balanced bowling attacks in the tournament, Bangalore surrendered meekly against Delhi which registered capital-gain kind of victory by 59 runs on Monday night.

Even though the chase master Virat Kohli batted for 39 balls, the chase was truly over before the powerplay overs finished. The dynamites of RCB’s batting (Devdutt Padikkal- Aaron Finch-AB de Villiers) this season, flopped together in this game and were back in pavilion when the score was just 43 runs.

Left-arm spinner Axar Patel bowled exceedingly well, especially during powerplays, and got the Man of the Match award for his special effort (2 wickets for 18 runs in four overs). No batsman in this IPL has been able to hit a six off Patel and this generally goes unnoticed.

“My plan after speaking to batsmen was that since the wicket was slow, I wanted to bowl at the stumps and vary the pace. In the powerplay I was in a mood to defend at first, but when the third ball spun I changed gears and got into an attack mode,” said Patel after the match in Hindi in a post match chat with the host broadcaster.

Win by pace and spin

Delhi got the terrible news of veteran Amit Mishra being ruled out for the entire season just before the match but his replacement, another veteran R Ashwin was at his best. The off-spinner got the in-form Padikkal and conceded just 26 runs in his four overs.

“I think the spinners did a really good job today, they set up the game for us in the powerplay. Axar and Ashwin actually won us the game,” said South Africa pacer Kagiso Rabada after getting a 4-wicket haul in the match.

His South African mate Anrich Nortje was equally potent with a figure of 4 overs-22 runs and 2 wickets. Only Kohli managed to get past 20 from the RCB and that too just a touch ahead of run-a-ball strike rate which was never going to be adequate in a daunting chase.

“DC are playing some really good cricket. Their batting is fearless. They have got pace, they have got good spinners. I won't say they are unbeatable, but they will be hard to beat. Against this side, you have to bring your A game. We didn't tonight,” said Kohli after the comprehensive defeat which has affected their net run rate severely and may hurt them towards the business end of the tournament.

Prithvi starts-Stoinis finishes

The foundation of the win was set by Delhi openers Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw who blasted the RCB attack in the powerplay overs for 63 runs despite 3 overs of Washington Sundar costing only 17 runs. And in the later stage of the innings Rishabh Pant (37 off 25) and Marcus Stoinis’ belligerent unbeaten 53 off just 26 balls (six 4s and two 6s) ensured that Capitals got more than enough to defend on a pitch which wasn’t exactly flat.

“Getting four out of five, I will take that any day. Kudos to the boys and the temperament shown in pressure situations. Our strategy was to be fearless and play with full freedom,” said an elated Iyer.

Delhi with 8 points in just 5 matches have reached the top of the table and going by their form, it will now be tough to displace them from that position in a day or two as has been the case with table-toppers in this season.

(Vimal Kumar is a senior sports journalist who has covered multiple cricket world cups and Rio Olympics in the last two decades. Vimal is also the author of Sachin: Cricketer Of The Century and The Cricket Fanatic’s Essential Guide.)

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