Once again, AB de Villiers (75*) bailed RCB out and took them to a par total of 171. With the ball, RCB started well and reduced DC to 47/3. However, it was Shimron Hetmyer’s unbeaten 53 that almost took Delhi over the line.
It was another humdinger and a nerve-wracking finish. On most days, you would back Rishabh Pant and Shimron Hetmyer to finish the job, especially when it’s 25 of the last two and 14 in the final over. However, some really good execution at the death from Harshal Patel and Mohammed Siraj ensured Royal Challengers Bangalore just about managed to hold on and eventually win by one run.
The game was never really in one team’s control throughout. It ebbed and flowed. Delhi Capitals nudged ahead early in the game before AB de Villiers madness brought it back for RCB. The bowlers kept RCB ahead before a Hetmyer show almost won it for Delhi.
DC skipper Rishabh Pant won the toss and asked RCB to bat first. Ishant Sharma troubled Devdutt Padikkal in the first over and kept going past the left-hander’s bat. However, Padikkal survived that threatening first over, and alongside Virat Kohli, he got off to a pretty solid start. The duo scored four boundaries in the first three overs and raced away to 25/0.
However, Avesh Khan’s introduction changed things. The 24-year-old pacer conceded just one boundary, but apart from that, he kept it tight, building pressure on Kohli before the RCB skipper chopped one back onto his stumps. In the very next over, Ishant had Padikkal knocked over with a superb leg-cutter which surprised the batsman.
RCB looked a touch wobbly at 30/2 in five overs. Glenn Maxwell walked in and steadied the ship alongside Rajat Patidar, who had come in place of Navdeep Saini. The latter kept turning over the strike while Maxwell found the boundaries with ease. He struck a six in back to back overs off Amit Mishra and Axar Patel to get RCB going. However, Maxwell holed out against Mishra as he tried to drag a big leg-break to the leg-side.
From then on, it was a re-building phase once again for RCB. AB de Villiers was watchful as he rotated the strike and got an odd boundary. At the other end, Patidar impressed as he struck a couple of sixes not to let RCB’s run-rate take a dip.
De Villiers got his first six in the 15th over, and a couple of balls later, Patidar was dismissed on 31 as he holed out trying to force a short delivery from Axar Patel over long-on. Washington Sundar joined de Villiers, but the former continued his struggles with the bat while de Villiers kept finding the boundary.
Avesh Khan was magnificent as he conceded just 13 runs in his last two overs (bowling the 17th and 19th), and even de Villiers couldn’t find the fence. It was only in the last over that the South African superstar changed the momentum of the innings. He smashed Marcus Stoinis for three sixes and plundered 23 runs to lift RCB to 171.
RCB’s first couple of overs with the ball weren’t the best ones as Daniel Sams, and Mohammed Siraj combined to concede 23 runs. However, Kyle Jamieson bowled an excellent new-ball spell and Siraj bounced back really well from that poor first over as well. Jamieson bounced out Shikhar Dhawan in the third over while Siraj nicked off Steve Smith with a beauty in the following over.
DC ended the powerplay 43/2, and Prithvi Shaw was looking good. However, Harshal Patel continued to take wickets this season as he had Shaw caught behind off a short and wide delivery. Washington Sundar and Yuzvendra Chahal tightened the screws as well. The five overs after the powerplay yielded just 27 runs for DC as Pant cut out the big shots while Stoinis was trying to get his eye in.
Marcus Stoinis got a couple of boundaries in the 11th over before Pant got a couple more in the 12th. Just when DC gathered some sort of momentum, Stoinis edged one to de Villiers as Patel had his second wicket of the game and 17th of the season. Sundar came in and bowled a tidy over to finish his spell 0/28 in four overs.
DC needed 75 runs off the last six overs, and that’s when Hetmyer went out on the attack. He smashed Siraj for a six and a four off successive deliveries to bring it down to 61 off the last five. Jamieson conceded just four in the 16th over to pull it back before Hetmyer went berserk. He smashed Patel for 10 runs in the 17th before smacking Jamieson for three sixes in the 18th over to reduce the equation to 25 off the last two.
Barring one full-toss, which Pant hit for a boundary, Patel executed the yorker really well and conceded 11 runs in the penultimate over, which left 14 for the final over. The onus was on Siraj to deliver for RCB, and he has been really impressive this season. The Hyderabad-born fast bowler nailed his yorkers on the first four balls as he conceded just four runs. With 10 needed off the last two balls, Pant struck two boundaries, but DC fell one run short of a fantastic come-from-behind win.
RCB held their nerve and recorded their fifth win of this season. They have now shot up to the top of the points table.
Brief Scores
Royal Challengers Bangalore 171/5 (de Villiers 75*, Patidar 31, Maxwell 25, Avesh 1/24, Ishant 1/26) beat Delhi Capitals 170/4 (Pant 58*, Hetmyer 53*, Stoinis 22, Harshal 2/37, Jamieson 1/32) by one run
