Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Saturday defeated the Delhi Daredevils (DD) by six wickets with 12 balls to spare in Bangalore in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match.
The win ends a two match losing streak for RCB and lifts them up to fifth position on the IPL points table. DD will remain at the bottom of the table till they face off against current table toppers Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) on Monday.
RCB innings got off to a rocky start as they lost their opener Vohra in only the second over followed by the dismissal of de Kock due to a miscommunication with skipper Kohli which resulted in a run out in the fifth over. Kohli was then joined by de Villiers at the center and together put on a 63 run partnership for the third wicket.
Boult’s Brilliance Outdone by de Villiers Dominance
Kohli was left stunned when Boult leapt into the air and plucked his lofted shot out of the air using only his right arm and landed just millimeters away from the boundary line, leaving the entire stadium stunned for a moment.
However, it was AB de Villiers who then stepped up with another dominant batting display as he hit the bowlers all over the park en route to his unbeaten 90 off just 39 deliveries. The South African who also picked up the man of the match award never let the bowlers settle as he led RCB comfortably over the line.
A ‘Pant’astic innings goes in vain
Earlier in the game the Daredevils who got off to a slow start were able to post a fairly competitive total thanks to a scintillating knock by Rishabh Pant who added 85 runs off just 48 deliveries before being caught out by de Villiers in the penultimate over of the innings.
Pant who joined Shreyas Nair in the centre when the Daredevils were only 23/2 following the dismissal of Jason Roy, went on to steady the DD innings with a 75 run stand for the third wicket. However, 174 wasn’t going to be enough against a rampant RCB who were desperate to give their home fans something to cheer about.
Quotes:
Virat Kohli, RCB captain, said, “Two points was crucial for us at this stage and we really thought about things and how we need to go about it. There are still a few areas we need to correct going forward but when you have brilliance like that (AB de Villiers) in the team, he makes you smile and gives you a lot of happy memories and tonight was one as well.”
Gautham Gambhir, DD captain, said, “I thought that he (AB de Villiers) took they game away from us. We were very much in the game, I thought that 175 was a great effort from the batters. Especially the way we started obviously it was bit tacky in the first six overs and then getting to 175 was a tremendous effort.”
What next?
Delhi Daredevils will return home to the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium to take on Kings XI Punjab on Monday.
Royal Challengers next welcome Chennai Super Kings to Bangalore as they take on the former champions on Wednesday.
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