IPL: 3 epic clashes between DD and RCB at the Feroz Shah Kotla

We are at the business end of the tournament and yet there are 6 teams fighting for the playoffs spot. Currently, Sunrisers Hyderabad is the only team to have confirmed their birth for the playoffs. Delhi Daredevils are out of the tournament and they will be playing for pride at their home ground, whereas Royal Challengers Bangalore need to win this game to stay alive in the tournament. A loss would mean they are out of the tournament. Both the teams are coming from a disappointing loss in their previous games and would want to change their fortunes in this crucial encounter.

Both the teams have clashed against each other 7 times at the Feroz Shah Kotla and RCB have a great record by winning 5 games and losing just 2 games.

Let us look at 3 epic encounters between both the sides at the iconic Feroz Shah Kotla

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#3 Chris Gayle’s 128* powers RCB to a win in a high scoring run feast - 2012

The skipper of Delhi Daredevils, Mahela Jayawardene won the toss and elected to bowl first on a flat deck at the Kotla. Tillakaratne Dilshan was dismissed in the 3rd over for 10 when the Sri Lankan was caught at mid-on region trying to flick one towards the leg side that caught the leading edge of the bowling of Varun Aaron. However, this was the only wicket to fall as Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli stayed undefeated as the pair added 204 runs for the second wicket to help RCB put up a mammoth score of 215/1 in their allotted 20 overs.

Chris Gayle tore apart the Delhi bowlers as he smashed his way to a breathtaking 128 in just 62 deliveries. He started his innings slowly scoring only 38 runs in his first 34 balls, but the real onslaught began after 34 deliveries as he scored the next 62 runs in just 19 balls to bring up a memorable century in just 53 balls. His knock of 128 comprised of 7 boundaries and 13 huge maximums. On the other hand, Virat Kohli raced his way to a 53 ball 73*. Unlike Gayle, Kohli’s knock was full of classy shots all over the ground. His knock consisted of 9 boundaries and 1 maximum.

Barring Varun Aaron none of the Delhi Daredevils bowlers could make an impact and all of them were taken to the cleaners.

In reply, Delhi Daredevils openers got the team off to a decent start but they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. The top order chipped in with important runs but none of them could go on and get a big score. Unmukt Chand (18 of 10), David Warner (15 of 9), Venugopal Rao (36 of 24), couldn’t capitalize on the starts they had and soon Delhi were reduced to 4-107 in 11.3 overs.

However, Ross Taylor was the silver lining in the Delhi innings as he smashed the Bangalore bowlers with disdain. He aggressive knock of 55 brought some hope for an unlikely win but it vanished when he was holed out in the deep trying to smash one towards the midwicket boundary. His knock of 55 (26) comprised of 2 maximums and 7 boundaries. Andre Russell 31(15) provided some entertainment with some lusty blows in the end but it was a bridge too far as Delhi closed the innings at 194/9.

Zaheer Khan was the pick of the bowlers with 3-38 in 4 overs, while Prashant Parameshwaran chipped in with 3 wickets and Vinay Kumar with 2-35. RCB won the game by 21 runs and for his blistering 128*, Chris Gayle was awarded Man of the Match.

#2 McGrath’s 4-fer sets up a win for Delhi in a high scoring encounter - 2008

This was during the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League in 2008, when both the sides clashed against each other. Put into bat first, Delhi Daredevils got the team off to a great start thanks to the dynamic duo of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir. The pair added 53 runs inside 5 overs before Sehwag was run out inside the 30 yards circle of the fielding of Ross Taylor. Rookie Shikhar Dhawan joined Gautam Gambhir and both the batsman started taking the attack to the opposition.

Gautam Gambhir was at his aggressive best, he smashed his way to 86 off just 54 balls. His knock comprised of 11 boundaries and 1 maximum. On the other hand, Shikhar Dhawan notched up his 50 in just 32 balls, his knock comprised of 4 boundaries and 3 maximums. The pair added 98 runs for the second wicket in 60 balls before Shikhar Dhawan was dismissed off the bowling of Jacques Kallis of a blinder from Rahul Dravid at the mid-wicket region. Although RCB bowlers pulled the scoring back by picking up crucial wickets in the end, Delhi managed to put up a daunting total of 191/5 in the 20 overs.

Jacques Kallis was the pick of the bowlers with 2 wickets, whilst Dale Steyn and Zaheer picked up a wicket apiece.

In reply, RCB got off to a poor start losing Praveen Kumar in the very first over of the bowling of Glen McGrath. The experiment to send Praveen Kumar to partner Wasim Jaffer failed. However, Ross Taylor threw caution to the wind as he started smashing the Delhi bowlers. His vigil at the crease was ended by Glenn McGrath again as he chipped one straight into the hands of deep midwicket region for 29. McGrath followed it up by picking up Wasim Jaffer in the very same over. Jaffer mistimed a pull shot that was caught at mid-on region. Suddenly RCB were 48-3 by the end of 5 overs. Skipper Rahul Dravid partnered Jacques Kallis and both the batsman resurrected the innings. The pair added 87 runs for the 4th wicket and raised hopes of an unlikely win for the Royal Challengers.

With more than 14 runs per over required in the last 5 overs, a well set Rahul Dravid skied one to the hands of the fielder at the cover region of the bowling of Glenn Mcgrath for 38. Jacques Kallis continued his way before he was bowled off the bowling of Dan Vettori in the penultimate over for a well made 54. With more than 30 runs required in the last over, Mark Boucher struck few lusty blows but it was too little too late as RCB were short by 10 runs.

Delhi Daredevils won the game by 10 runs and for his excellent piece of bowling; Glenn Mcgrath was awarded Man of the Match. His bowling figures read 4-0-29-4.

#1 Kohli’s 99 and Unadakat’s 5-fer take RCB home in a close encounter – 2013

Put into bat first, RCB lost Chris Gayle very early in 2nd over for 4. Cheteshwar Pujara struck few boundaries before he was bowled off the bowling of Siddharth Kaul for 17 in the 5th over. Skipper Virat Kohli and Moises Henriques added 57 runs for the third wicket with Virat being the aggressor. Henriques (26) was dismissed in the 14th over when he offered a return catch to the bowler Shahbaz Nadeem.

AB de Villers walked into the crease and both the batsman took the attack to the opposition. Virat Kohli, in particular, launched himself into the Delhi Daredevils to put on an exhibition of fine batting display in the last 5 overs. He was particularly severe on Umesh Yadav as he smoked him all over Kotla.

Virat Kohli was batting on 76 until the final over that was to be bowled by Umesh Yadav. He scored 2 runs off the first ball and then followed it up with 2 consecutive fours and 2 consecutive sixes to take his score to 98 with 1 ball remaining in the over. On the last ball, he smashed one to the deep fielder but was run out in an attempt to reach the crease during the second run. He was run out for 99 and it was an unfortunate ending to a belligerent innings. In the end, RCB put up a solid total of 183 in their allotted 20 overs. The last 4 overs of RCB innings yielded 77 runs thanks to some breathtaking strokeplay by Virat Kohli 99 of 58 balls and AB de Villiers 32 of 17 balls.

Irfan Pathan, Siddharth Kaul, and Shahbaz Nadeem picked up 1 wicket each.

In reply, Delhi Daredevils began the run chase well but kept losing wickets at regular interval. Jaydev Unadakat accounted for both the openers Jayawardene (19) and Sehwag (18). Unmukt Chand and Ben Rohrer kept Delhi in the hunt by adding 58 runs for the 4th wicket. However, both the batsman were dismissed in the span of 2 overs that dented the chance of a win for the home side. Ben Rohrer was the first to go as he chopped one back on to his stumps for 32 of the bowling of Vinay Kumar in the 15th over. Unmukt Chand (41) was the next to be dismissed as he chipped one straight into the hands of Virat Kohli of the bowling of Jaydev Unadakat.

With more than 14 runs required per over of the last 4 over, Irfan Pathan and Morne Morkel struck few lusty blows to bring the required runs to 19 of the last over. Morne Morkel scored a boundary and followed it up with a single of the first two balls to give the strike back to Irfan Pathan. With 14 to win off 4 balls, Pathan smashed a boundary towards the fine leg region of the 3rd ball and followed it up with a single to bring the equation to 9 of 2 balls. Morne Morkel swung hard at a Yorker from Unadakat but missed it altogether, only to be bowled. This meant it was game over for Delhi, Umesh Yadav struck a boundary of the last ball but it was so near yet so far as Delhi lost the game by 4 runs.

For picking up 5 wickets for just 25 runs, Jaydev Unadakat was awarded Man of the match.