Delhi Capitals on Monday defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore by six wickets to occupy the second spot in the IPL. Shikhar Dhawan played the match-winning knock of 54 in 41 balls to guide his side to an emphatic victory. Ajinkya Rahane too played a key role in scripting the victory for Delhi Capitals as he made 60 off 46 balls.
Batting first, Royal Challengers Bangalore had made 152-7 in 20 overs. Devdutt Padikkal made 50 in 41 balls, while AB de Villiers made 35 in 21 balls.
With 3-33, Anrich Nortje was the most effective bowler for Delhi Capitals.
Today’s victory has catapulted Delhi Capitals to the second spot in the points table. Both Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore had 14 points before today’s match. Both teams have now qualified for the playoff stage despite the RCB’s defeat.
Mumbai Indians are sitting comfortably at the top with 18 points with one game in hand. Another team with 14 points is Kolkata Knight Riders. The team from Bengal would expect to qualify for the playoff stage if Mumbai Indians manage to defeat Sunrisers Hyderabad in their last match on Tuesday.
Reacting to his side’s defeat, Kohli said, “It’s a mixed bag. you come to games to try and get a result your way. Through probably the 11th over, the 17.3 mark was informed by the management. Even if the game was drifting away, we controlled the middle overs well enough. I think we’ve played good enough cricket in this tournament to qualify. We have two games to the final now. We can be more brave in the back end, probably be better in the powerplay with the ball which has been our strength. You take what you can with these games.”
Delhi Capitals skipper Shreyas Iyer said, “Chuffed with the performance. We knew it was a do or die and we just focused on the win, not NRR. The teams who won in the latter half completely changed the scenario. It’s a really competitive tournament for sure. I feel that the bowlers were really up with their plans and knew what they had to execute. We had a few sessions back in the hotel and the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition and it worked out today. Mumbai are one of the best teams in the tournament. We need to keep things simple, that’s what we discussed in the meetings. Stick to the basics. The more you keep things simple, the easier it gets.”
Anrich Nortje was declared Man Of The Match for his impressive bowling.
