Twitter Reactions: AB de Villiers, Virat Kohli power RCB to thumping win in Delhi

The Royal Challengers Bangalore have managed to stay alive in the race for the playoffs. Albeit their hopes of qualifying for the final four largely hangs on the results of the other remaining fixtures, they can certainly give their best shot and try to stay afloat in the race. This is exactly something that they did in the game against the Delhi Daredevils. It was a must win situation for the visiting RCB camp and they prevailed on the day.

In the game, the Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli won the toss and opted to field first. It is not a usual sight to see the RCB bowlers striking early in the innings. But on the day, Yuzvendra Chahal struck twice in the powerplay to dismiss both the Delhi Daredevils openers.

The two in-form batters of the DD lineup, Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant, then added 93 runs for the third wicket to keep the hosts interested. Iyer largely struggled for his 35-ball 32. Yet again, it was Rishabh Pant who was the best batter for the Daredevils in the innings. Pant scored yet another fifty to back up his century from the previous game. His 61 came off just 34 balls with five fours and four sixes.

Towards the end of the innings, Abhishek Sharma, who played his first IPL game, played a very superlative knock. Sharma’s unbeaten 46 off 19 balls was studded with 3 fours and 4 sixes. His efforts propelled the Delhi Daredevils total to 181/4 in the stipulated 20 overs. For RCB, Yuzvendra Chahal was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 2/28 in his quota of four overs.

In the run chase, the Royal Challengers Bangalore lost the services of their openers cheaply. Young Nepalese recruit in the DD lineup, Sandeep Lamichhane, bowled very well in the powerplay. But the senior duo of AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli were too good for the DD bowlers. The veteran stars added 118 runs for the third wicket to keep the run chase in progress. After Kohli’s dismissal, the innings had a brief scare with a couple of more wickets falling soon. Eventually, it was AB de Villiers who ensured that the team was over the line with 5 wickets in hand.

Here is how the Twitterati reacted to the match:

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