IPL 10, Match 56, DD v RCB Review: Negi, Kohli ensures Bangalore end on a high

Royal Challengers Bangalore finally salvaged some pride in IPL 10 after registering a hard-fought victory against the Delhi Daredevils in the last group match of the tournament. It was an inconsequential encounter as both teams had already been knocked out of the tournament way back.

Riding on a wonderful half-century by captain Kohli and a 48 by Universal Boss Chris Gayle, RCB posted a competitive 161 runs on the board in their allotted 20 overs. Delhi were in the chase for the majority of the innings. Rishabh Pant was the top scorer with a 45 as Delhi eventually fell short in the end by 10 runs.

Winning the toss Bangalore opted to bat. Riding on a wonderful half-century by captain Kohli and a 48 by Universal Boss Chris Gayle, RCB posted a competitive 161 runs on the board in their allotted 20 overs. Delhi was in the chase for the majority of the innings. Rishabh Pant was the top scorer with a 45 as Delhi eventually fell short in the end by 10 runs.

Royal Challengers captain Virat Kohli chose to bat first after winning the toss. He mentioned in the toss that there were only 3 foreign players available in the squad and they have managed to form a team with the available options. Chris Gayle walked out in the middle to begin proceedings and his partner was Vishnu Vinod this time around.

The big man from the Caribbean began with a couple of fours and a six of the first two overs of Zaheer Khan and Mohammed Shami respectively. He again danced down the track and deposited Shami for yet another six of the 4th over. Bangalore lost their first wicket in the form of Vishnu Vinod when Pat Cummins removed the youngster after he struggled his way to 3 of 9 deliveries.

Captain Virat Kohli joined Chris Gayle in the middle and looked to consolidate from word go. Meanwhile, Gayle was unable to execute his big shots on a consistent basis which was reflecting in his strike rate. Against the run of flow Kohli played arguably the most glamorous shot in the tournament. Corey Anderson bowled a full-length delivery and Kohli eased it off the middle of the bat as the ball went over the cover fielder.

The 12th over was the most productive one for Bangalore as the duo of Gayle and Kohli smashed 19 runs to propel them to 90/1 at the end of the 12th over. Left-arm tweaker Shahbaz Nadeem brought about the downfall of Chris Gayle as the southpaw was dismissed 2 short of a well-deserved half-century.

Captain Kohli too fell in the very next over of Zaheer Khan as the flamboyant batsman was holed out in the deep. Kedar Jadhav, Sachin Baby and Pawan Negi added some late runs as Bangalore reached 161/6 after 20 overs.

Sanju Samson was dismissed in the very first over as Avesh Khan produced a beauty of a delivery. Karun Nair, on the other hand, began with a couple of boundaries as he was joined by another young Shreyas Iyer who had already scored a match winning innings some days back. Yuzvendra Chahal was smashed for a six over the long-on boundary as RCB reached 25/1 at the end of 4 overs.

Harshal Patel was smashed for a hat-trick of boundaries by Karun Nair but in the very next over Shane Watson brought about his downfall. Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer played some delightful shots to keep the scoring rate under check as Delhi reached 76/2 at the end of 10 overs. While Iyer was not out on 28, the little southpaw was batting on 15.

Harshal Patel dismissed Iyer and Marlon Samuels in consecutive deliveries. Pant kept the hosts in the run chase with his composed batting but a couple of wickets of Pat Cummins and Corey Anderson of the bowling of Travis Head in the 16th put the visitors on the back foot. Delhi’s challenge almost came to an end with the wicket of Rishabh Pant in the 17th over.

Mohammed Shami kept Delhi in the game with some lusty blows and brought the equation down to 13 required of the final over. He was dismissed in the final over and with that Delhi’s hopes also ended. Bangalore had at least something to smile as they finished the tournament on a high after a string of losses.

Brief Scores

Royal Challengers Bangalore 161/6 in 20 overs (Virat Kohli 58, Chris Gayle 48, Pat Cummins 2/21)

Delhi Daredevils 151 all-out in 20 overs 9Rishabh Pant 45, Shreyas Iyer 32, Pawan Negi 3/10, Harshal Patel 3/43)

Royal Challengers Bangalore won by 10 runs

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