Twitter Reactions: Royal Challengers Bangalore edge over Delhi Capitals by one run to reclaim the top spot

The Royal Challengers Bangalore climb to the top of the table with this win.

By Pratyay Tiwari

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4 Min Read

AB de Villiers
info
AB de Villiers. (Photo Source: IPL/BCCI)

The Royal Challengers Bangalore got back to winning ways, edging the Delhi Capitals by one run in an edge-of-the-seat thriller to jump to the top of the table.

Having called correctly, Rishabh Pant inserted RCB to make use of the dew advantage later. Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal gave a sound start to the team, picking five boundaries amongst them in the first three overs before the Capitals’ pace duo of Avesh Khan and Ishant Sharma rattled both the openers off consecutive deliveries across two overs.

Trying to work Khan’s back-of-length delivery towards third-man, Kohli (12 off 11) chopped the ball onto his off-stump, while a Test match length from Ishant Sharma disturbed Padikkal’s (17 off 14) furniture.

ABD storms after Patidar, Maxwell repair

Two vital breakthroughs meant that DC had held the opposition by the scruff, although the two new men – Glenn Maxwell and Rajat Patidar – repaired the innings with a small, momentum-regaining 30-run stand, with Maxwell picking a couple of sixes against spinners Axar Patel and Amit Mishra.

RCB was again dented when Mishra got a looking-to-accelerate Maxwell caught at long-on for a 20-ball 25, which brought the team’s genius AB de Villiers in the middle. Showing some aggression, Patidar (31 off 22) deposited Mishra for a six over long-on and smacked Ishant  for a maximum in the 54-run stand alongside de Villiers, although he holed out to long-on off Axar Patel to exit at a key moment.

From thereon, it was a classic lone-wolf effort from de Villiers, who smashed a 42-ball 75, including five sixes and three fours, which bailed his team out from trouble for the nth time. His racking knock’s most highlighting portion came in the final over, when he sent Marcus Stoinis beyond the boundary ropes thrice in a 23-run over to punch RCB beyond 170.

RCB makes early inroads

ABD’s storm was not the only one in the game as a real sandstorm awaited the teams. After a short delay, the play resumed with Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan picking three fours in the first couple of overs, announcing their intentions early on. That, however, did not go on for too long thanks to consecutive blows from Kyle Jamieson, who struck as Dhawan (6 off 7) picked Chahal at fine-leg, and Mohammad Siraj, who induced an edge off Steve Smith’s bat for de Villiers to grab behind.

Shaw accelerated, picking boundaries off Siraj and Daniel Sams to end the powerplay at 43/2 before the Capitals had another jitter when Washington Sundar had the umpire convinced for an lbw appeal, only for UltraEdge to reveal a spike that saved Rishabh Pant. Another one of Shaw’s promising knock was cut short by the Purple Cap holder, Harshal Patel, as the batsman reached out to a wide delivery and feather-edged it behind.

Pant, Hetmyer fall painfully short 

After a sedate passage of play, Stoinis and Pant released the scoreboard pressure, adding 45 from 34, which included a phase when the two picked four boundaries in a space of six balls, although Patel made Stoinis nick behind for a 17-ball 22 to poise the game. The Capitals needed 79 off 42 when Shimron Hetmyer entered and showed the will to win, hitting a six and four off Siraj in the 14-run 15th over.

To make matters worse, Padikkal dropped him off Jamieson, whom he smoked for three sixes in the 18th over that produced 21 and brought down the equation to 25 from 12. Despite conceding a single boundary, the duo managed 11 runs off Patel’s penultimate over, leaving Siraj to defend 14 from the last. An impeccably controlled Siraj further distilled it down to six needed off the last ball, which went for a boundary. Pant (58 off 48) and Hetmyer (53 off 25) remained unbeaten, but a run extra was enough to give RCB two more points.

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