IPL 2018: Match 45, DD vs RCB, Review - Virat Kohli-De Villiers show stuns Delhi as RCB cruise to victory

Finally, Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers batted together and won the game for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) this season. Both of them were not clicking at the same time but it happened in a must-win game and Delhi Daredevils (DD) had no answers. The wonderful batting was enjoyed by the crowd also as the visitors won the game easily in the 19th over. However, it was Rishabh Pant and the teenager Abhishek Sharma who had propelled the home side to a competitive total but they were overshadowed by two greatest players of this generation.

The visitors won the toss and opted to field first as they brought in their retained plyer Sarfaraz Khan finally at the expense of Manan Vohra. Delhi had nothing to lose as they decided to hand a debut to Sandeep Lamichhane and Junior Dala. The young leggie created the history by becoming the first player from Nepal to feature in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Pant blazes off again

Yuzvendra Chahal opened the bowling for his team as the decision from Virat Kohli proved to be a masterstroke. He castled Prithvi Shaw who was in great form with a straighter one in the very first over. Interestingly, he bowled a googly to disturb the timber again of Jason Roy who completely misread the line to rock Delhi in the first few overs. Then came together the duo which has always bailed the team out of trouble and they did it again. While Shreyas Iyer concentrated on rotating the strike, Rishabh Pant was magnificent again.

He was special in his shot-making this time as well. Pant was literally making easy in the middle with the way he was striking the ball. He was not sparing any bowler who came in his way but Mohammed Siraj was treated with a couple of disdainful shots by him. While the third ball of the 8th over of the innings was a swat over mid-wicket region which went at a rate of knots, he brought his bottom hand into play as the ball comfortably went over the long-off fielder. Pant also reached his half-century soon off just 26 balls and was looking good for more.

Abhishek Sharma comes into the picture

It took a brilliance in the field from AB de Villiers to end the brilliant innings of Pant who scored 61 off just 34 balls. Soon Iyer was dismissed by Siraj on 32 and the skipper had a rather quiet day with the bat tonight. But what followed next was least expected by anyone. Abhishek Sharma, the 17-year-old teenager, took his time to settle and then just blazed away against the likes of Tim Southee who was simply superb in his earlier matches. The assault began in the 17th over as the Kiwi bowler was taken for 22 runs.

It was such clean hitting from him and most importantly was playing with a straight bat which proved that he is no a slogger by any means. He scored 46 runs off just 19 deliveries as Delhi added 56 runs in the last 4 overs and posted a mammoth total of 181 runs on the board for the loss of 4 wickets.

ABD and Kohli show

The chase was never going to be easy for RCB as the hosts unfurled Sandeep’s leg spin in the first over against them. The opening duo of Moeen Ali and Parthiv Patel struggled to pick him and the decent over piled on the pressure soon. The former failed to deal with it and lobbed up a catch in the very next over to gift a wicket to Trent Boult. The leggie from Nepal caught Parthiv then plumb in front to leave the visitors reeling at 18/2. Though the wicket brought together the dream pair of Ab de Villiers and Virat Kohli.

The latter got going straight away by bringing his wrists into play going against another debutant Junior Dala having the benefit of playing against him earlier. He was taken apart for 17 runs in his first over which set off the Indian captain who was in the mood to play a special knock today. He was pumped up today and he was playing with the field literally with the help of his wrists. The same delivery was played on both the sides by him which was simply superb and reminded everyone of the Sachin Tendulkar who used to do the same to the bowlers in his prime.

The Kotla crowd was lucky today as they got to see the partnership between two of the greatest player of the generation. De Villiers took some time to play his shots but when he started, he was literally unstoppable. It was such sublime hitting from him that even Kohli was left in awe of him. The crowd was cheering for both and at one stage it felt like the match was going on in Bangalore. But more than the pasting that their home crowd was getting, the fans were thrilled to watch the masterclass on the show by the local boy and the Mr 360.

They added 118 runs only in 64 deliveries and until then the victory was a mere formality for the visitors. Meanwhile, Amit Mishra sent back Kohli to leave the crowd disappointed in the 14th over. But the wicket didn’t change the complexion of the game by much. Mandeep Singh joined in the fun as he also smashed a few out of the park. Even Mandeep was sent back by Boult late in the innings but those were just the consolation for the hosts as RCB won the game in the 19th over with the Superman from South Africa remaining unbeaten until the end.

Brief Scores

Delhi Daredevils 181/4 after 20 overs (R Pant 61, A Sharma 46; Y Chahal 2/28)

Royal Challengers Bangalore 187/5 after 19 overs (V Kohli 70, AB de Villiers 72*; T Boult 2/40)

Result: Royal Challengers Bangalore won by 5 wickets

Man of the Match: AB de Villiers