DC restricted RCB to 149/8 in 20 overs and chased down the target with seven balls to spare.
It was the battle of two struggling teams in IPL 2019, as Royal Challengers Bangalore hosted Delhi Capitals in the 20th match of the showpiece tournament at Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday (April 7).
Set into bat first, scoring looked difficult for the RCB batsmen throughout. Virat Kohli, in an unusual display got most of his runs in singles as he kept losing partners on the other end. Moeen Ali (32 off 18 balls) gave some impetus to the RCB innings. Kohli almost came to life after Moeen’s onslaught, hitting two consecutive sixes. However, devastatingly for the home crowd, Virat fell in the 18th over for 33-ball 41 while RCB posted 149/8 on the board. For the Capitals, Kagiso Rabada was the stand-out bowler, taking 4/21 in his quota of four overs.
In reply, DC lost Shikhar Dhawan for a first ball duck. But a 68-run stand between Prithvi Shaw and Iyer put the away team in a very good position. Shaw, who played some gorgeous stoke, threw away his wicket on 28 off Pawan Negi’s bowling. Afterwards, Colin Ingram joined Iyer at the crease. The duo shared a 39-run partnership before Moeen Ali trapped Ingram plumb in front for 22. Needing 42 runs off 41 balls, Rishabh Pant arrived in the middle.
Meanwhile, captain Shreyas Iyer completed his first fifty of this year’s IPL in 37 deliveries. The pair of Iyer and Pant added 37 runs off 26 balls to put DC on the brink of victory before the former perished for 50-ball 67. With 4 runs needed from the last two overs, Chris Morris (0) and Pant (18) also threw their wickets away. However, Akshar Patel completed the formalities by smashing Siraj over the in-field. DC eventually reached the target with four wickets and seven balls to spare.
Cricket experts on Twitter were impressed with Delhi Capitals’ improved showing in this match while they were critical of RCB’s yet another lacklustre performance.
Here are some of the reactions: