IPL 10, Match 5 RCB v DD Review: Pawan Negi heroics win it for RCB

It was an exceptional turnaround by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) as the home team defeated another underachiever of the tournament Delhi Daredevils by 15 runs in the 5th match of Vivo IPL 10 to get off the mark in the tournament. RCB posted 157 in their allotted 20 overs courtesy exceptional innings by Pocket size dynamo Kedar Jadhav, the hosts managed to score 157 in their allotted 20 overs.

Teenage sensation Rishabh Pant kept Delhi Daredevils in the game till the last over before Pawan Negi came and dashed their hopes with the wicket of the southpaw in the first delivery of the final over. With a left-arm spinner bowling in the final over, Pant would have backed himself to get the required 19 runs but the wicket in the very first ball shattered their hopes as Delhi fell short by 15 runs.

Winning the toss Royal Challengers Bangalore attempted to bat. The opening combination changed as captain Shane Watson came out to open the innings with Chris Gayle. The duo began in an attacking fashion smashing boundaries at will. Watson began with a hat-trick of boundaries in the first 7 deliveries and Gayle also added another in a matter of minutes. The hard-hitting southpaw was dismissed by Chris Morris as Sanju Samson plucked out a sensational catch.

Mandeep Singh struck a couple of boundaries of Pat Cummins before falling to the same bowler in the 6th over. Kedar Jadhav walked out in the middle and announced his arrival with a tremendous six of Amit Mishra in the 8th over. Meanwhile left-arm tweaker Shabaz Nadeem prized out Shane Watson in the 9th over.

Jadhav scored 24 runs of the over of 13th over of Amit Mishra where the little man smashed the leggie for a couple of fours and sixes each. He reached his fifty in the very next over of Carlos Brathwaite after smashing for a four and a six. Meanwhile, Stuart Binny was dismissed in the 15th over but Jadhav was in no mood to step off the accelerator. He was dismissed in the 17th over as Bangalore faltered in the final 3 overs.

Eventually, at the end of 20 overs, Bangalore managed to score 157 in their allotted 20 overs. Chris Morris was the pick of Daredevils bowler who finished with impressive figures of 3/21. The DD openers Sam Billings and Aditya Tare began in a brisk fashion scoring 32 in the first 4 overs. After scoring 17 balls 18 Tare gave away his wicket in the 5th over.

Surprise inclusion Billy Stanlake proved his worth in the XI by casting Karun Nair with a beautiful inswinging delivery. Sam Billings struck some lusty blows before holding out to Stanlake of Iqbal Abdulla. Rishabh Pant who came off a tragedy to play the match looked in sublime touch from the outset.It was a heck of an innings from the kid who will surely go on to make a mark in international cricket in the near future.

He began with a gigantic six in the very first ball he faced and then smashed left-arm pacer Tymal Mills for a boundary over the deep square leg region. Pant kept on playing the big shots and smashed Watson for a terrific six over the fine-leg region. Pant completed a sensational half-century in the 18th over and smashed the pacer for a terrific six to keep the hopes alive for the visitors.

Shane Watson bowled a terrific penultimate over where he conceded a mere 2 runs. Amit Mishra attempted wild slogs but couldn’t connect on a single occasion. It was up to Rishabh Pant to help DD win the opening encounter with 19 required of the final over. Watson took a big gamble and went with left-arm spinner Pawan Negi for the very first time in the match. He hadn’t bowled in the match till then and it was a big call from Watson.The odds was in favour of Pant as the southpaw had smashed the spinners with disdain.

But it wasn’t the fairytale ending for Pant. He gave away his wicket in the very first delivery of the over attempting a big shot over the fine leg region. He missed it completely and ball disturbed the timbers. It was formalities from there on with no batsman left. So Bangalore opened their account in the 2nd match with a win over RCB by 15 runs.

Brief Scores

Royal Challengers Bangalore 157/8 in 20 overs (Kedar Jadhav 69, Chris Morris 3/21, Zaheer Khan 2/31)

Delhi Daredevils 142/9 in 20 overs (Rishabh Pant 57, Pawan Negi 2/3, Billy Stanlake 2/29)

Royal Challengers Bangalore won by 15 runs