It was a dead rubber between Delhi Daredevils and Royal Challengers Bangalore in the context of the league but pride was still at stake for the two teams from the bottom half. Both the teams would have loved to finish with a win but at the end, it was RCB who emerged victorious.
Batting first after winning the toss, RCB batsmen finally came amongst the runs and skipper Kohli led from the front. He scored 58 runs and Gayle’s 48 helped them post a competitive total of 161/6 at the end of 20 overs.
DD’s chase didn’t get off to good start as Samson departed for a duck. They had hope with the partnership of Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant but once the two got out, the fell short of the target. RCB won the match by 10 runs and finally, ended the losing streak of 6 games.
Here’s how the players from both sides performed in the clash.
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Chris Gayle – 7/10
The big West Indian finally looked in some form and struck 3 fours and as many sixes. He scored 48 off 38 balls but got out in the 14th over just before getting to his half-century. Gayle shared a partnership of 66 runs with Kohli for the 2nd wicket and built a solid platform.
Vishnu Vinod – 2/10
Vinod struggled from the outset and didn’t look comfortable against the fast bowlers. Initially, he was just a spectator as Gayle took most of the strike. When he looked to break the shackles against Pat Cummins in the 5th over, got an inside edge that shattered his stumps and he had to go back for 3 off 9 balls.
Virat Kohli – 8/10
The skipper walked in at the fall of Vinod and hit the stripes immediately with some delightful strokes. After a long time in IPL, he looked close to his usual self and scored 58 off 45 balls with 3 fours and 3 sixes. As he looked like getting a big one, lost his wicket to Zaheer Khan in the 17th over.
Travis Head – 2/10
The left-hander joined Kohli in the middle in the 14th over and a partnership was required. But while looking to convert a single into a couple, got run-out at the non-striker’s end after scoring just 2 off 2 balls.
Kedar Jadhav – 4.5/10
After Kohli’s departure, Jadhav hammered a six down the ground and intimated everyone that he was still at the crease. But as he looked like setting up a big finish, was run out due to a lazy approach. He placed a delivery to backward point and started jogging but Cummins threw the ball at the non-striker’s stumps and curtailed his stay to 12 off 9 balls.
Sachin Baby – 4.5/10
The left-hander found himself in after the fall of Kohli when 21 balls were remaining in the innings. The task was to score some quick runs and he did strike a couple of boundaries but lost his wicket while looking to clear the long-on boundary off Cummins and departed for 12 off 8 balls.
Shane Watson – 7/10
Watson surprisingly batted at number 7 and scored just 4 runs off 4 balls at the death and remained unbeaten. But when it came to bowling, he gave away just 16 runs in 4 overs and bagged the important wicket of Karun Nair.
Pawan Negi – 8/10
The left-armer played a handy cameo with the bat of 13 off 5 balls that included 3 fours and helped his side get to a respectable total of 161. With the ball, he ended with figures of 10/3 in 2 overs and bowled the crucial last over when 13 runs were needed and he gave away just 2 runs and bagged 2 wickets.
Harshal Patel – 8/10
The fast bowler bowled beautifully and played a key role in his team’s victory. He claimed the 3 important wickets of Shreyas Iyer, Marlon Samuels and Rishabh Pant and finished with figures of 43/3 in 4 overs. His changes of pace on a slow deck worked perfectly that set up the match for RCB.
Avesh Khan – 7/10
The pacer made his debut in the IPL and made a mark with the very first ball. A pacy short ball hit the shoulder of the bat of Samson and off the next ball, sent the batsman packing with a similar delivery. He finished with impressive figures of 23/1 in 4 overs.
Yuzvendra Chahal – 5/10
The leg-spinner has been one of the bright spots of RCB this year but in the last game, he couldn’t replicate the similar performance. He gave away 24 runs in his 3 overs and couldn’t pick up any wickets. It was a rare occasion where he didn’t get to finish the full quota of overs.
Delhi Daredevils
Sanju Samson – 1/10
Samson faced the first ball of the innings and was surprised by the rising delivery from Avesh Khan that hit the handle of his bat. He looked to clear the mid-on fielder off the next ball that was similar to the previous one but only managed to hit it inside the circle to Kohli and went back for a duck.
Karun Nair – 6/10
Nair looked in fine touch as he hit some eye-catching boundaries against the fast bowlers. In the 5th over, he took a liking to Harshal Patel and collected 3 boundaries off him.
But as it has happened many times in the past, he threw his wicket away after getting a start. He departed after scoring 26 off 22 balls while looking to play a pull shot to Watson in the 6th over.
Shreyas Iyer – 6.5/10
Iyer constructed a decent partnership of 46 runs for the 3rd wicket with Rishabh Pant and the duo looked like taking the game away from RCB. But after doing all the hard work, he threw his wicket away in the 12th over when he gave a straight catch to Watson at covers off Harshal Patel.
He scored 32 off 30 balls with 2 fours and a six but surely should have gone on to score much more.
Rishabh Pant – 7.5/10
The youngster once again came to the fore and held the fort despite wickets falling at the other end. DD had hopes as long he was in the middle. He did strike some lusty blows and looked like getting DD closer. But his innings was cut short by Harshal in the 17th over to 45 off 34 balls with 3 fours and 2 sixes.
Marlon Samuels – 0/10
The West Indian was in at number 5 in the 12th over when Rishabh Pant was batting well at the other end. But even before he could realise, he was sitting back in the dug-out. Off the very first ball he faced, he was castled by Harshal Patel courtesy a slower ball and went back without troubling the scorers.
Corey Anderson – 4/10
The Kiwi was taken to the cleaners initially by Kohli and then he conceded 16 runs off the final over where Negi hit him for 3 fours. He gave away 38 runs in 4 overs and remained wicketless. With the bat too, he wasn’t too useful and scored just 3 off 9 balls and got out stumped to Head.
Pat Cummins – 8/10
The Australian was once again impressive and bagged figures of 21/2 in 4 overs. He first removed Vinod in the 5th over and then came back in the penultimate over to send Baby back. He has been one of the bright spots for DD in a rather dismal season. While batting, he scored 7 off 3 balls that included a six.
Amit Mishra – 3/10
The leg-spinner hasn’t had a great time in the league this year and once more, he had a torrid time. In his first over, he went for 7 runs and in the second, Gayle smashed him for a six and Kohli collected a six and a four to dent his figures to 26/0 in 2 overs.
Mohammed Shami – 6/10
Shami was struck for a six in his first over by Gayle and once more in the second. He went for 7 and 9 runs in his 3rd and 4th overs respectively and didn’t manage to pick any wickets and finished with figures of 31/0. With the bat though, his cameo of 21 off 9 balls brought back the hopes for DD.
Shahbaz Nadeem – 6/10
The left-arm spinner bowled well and picked up the important wicket of Gayle when he looked dangerous. But it was quite surprising that despite having decent figures of 12/1 in 2 overs, he wasn’t called in to bowl any further.
Zaheer Khan – 6.5/10
The DD skipper bowled the first over of the RCB innings and was hit for 2 fours by Gayle. But he made a good comeback and went for just 2 runs in the next over. He came back in the 15th over and gave away 6 runs and bagged the prized scalp of his counterpart Kohli in the last over to finish with figures of 31/1.
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