IPL 2018, DD vs RCB: 5 talking points

AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli finally came to the party as the Royal Challengers Bangalore chased down an imposing target of 182 posted by Delhi Daredevils at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium to keep alive their chances of progressing to the play-off stages of this year's IPL.

Rishabh Pant's 34-ball 61 and 17-year-old debutant Abhishek Sharma's unbeaten 19-ball 46 seemed to have put Delhi on track with a score of 181 on board, but the visitors were up to the task with the team's star duo taking up the responsibility and getting the job done.

De Villiers was unbeaten on 72 from 37 balls as RCB won the match by 5 wickets and with one over to spare.

Here are the 5 major talking points from the match.

---

#5 Yuzvendra Chahal's early double jolts Delhi Daredevils

RCB's Yuzvendra Chahal has underperformed in the 2018 IPL, but tonight he was right on his money as he bamboozled young sensation Prithvi Shaw in the very first over of the Delhi innings to give RCB a great start in a must-win game for his side.

He followed it up with the dismissal of Jason Roy who was looking dangerous having Umesh Yadav for a six and a boundary in the second over of the Delhi innings.

It was the wrong one that deceived Roy and two bowled dismissals in two overs was an absolute delight to watch and gave Virat Kohli just the start he would have been hoping for.

#4 Rishabh Pant continues to knock the door of the Indian team

Pant has been piling on the runs this IPL

MS Dhoni has been having a terrific IPL 2018 no doubt but his competitors have been keeping him on his toe as well with their own performances thereby giving the Indian team selectors a lot to think about.

Delhi's Rishabh Pant has been the frontrunner in the lot with a number of swashbuckling innings and today was no different as he scored 61 off just 34 balls ripping apart the RCB bowling attack.

Along with skipper Shreyas Iyer, Pant helped Delhi recover from 16/2 to a total of 109 before the latter fell to Moeen Ali in the 13th over.

#3 A star is born as Abhishek Sharma lits up the Kotla on his debut

The 17-year-old remained unbeaten on 46 off 19 balls on his IPL debut

One player who gained plenty of attention at the end of the 2018 IPL player auctions was young Nepalese spinner Sandeep Lamichhane who was picked up by the Delhi Daredevils for his base price of Rs 20 lakh.

Lamichhane did well conceding just 25 runs off his four overs as well as picking the wicket of Parthiv Patel but it was another 17-year-old who truly made his mark on the IPL tonight with his scintillating debut as Abhishek Sharma scored an unbeaten 46 off 19 balls to help propel the Delhi innings towards the end.

The teenager looked in total control of his innings and played effortlessly during his knock which featured 3 boundaries and 4 sixes as he helped Delhi score 56 runs in the final four overs to push the side's score past the 180-run mark.

#2 Shreyas Iyer lets RCB off the hook

The Delhi skipper was guilty of not going for the kill when de Villiers and Kohli were new to the crease

The quick-fire knocks by Rishabh Pant and Abhishek Sharma meant that Delhi Daredevils had all the momentum heading into the interval after putting on 181 runs on the board on their home turf batting first.

RCB's run-chase got off to the worst possible start as they lost both their openers with just 18 runs on the board and the chance was there for the Delhi side to go for the kill as RCB's most critical duo of Kohli and de Villiers came together at the crease.

But instead of piling on the early pressure created by the loss of two early wickets, Delhi skipper Shreyas Iyer let RCB off the hook by bowling the likes of Junior Dala and Harshal Patel when de Villiers came out to the middle to join his skipper.

The experienced pair jumped on the opportunity with Kohli smashing Dala for three boundaries off his first over while a boundary and a sixer followed off Harshal Patel's opener.

27 runs came of those two overs and while Iyer tried to pull things back by bringing back Trent Boult into the attack, the momentum had clearly shifted and Kohli and de Villiers were in full swing as they set about chasing down the target.

#1 Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers' partnership wins the match for RCB

Kohli and de Villiers added 118 runs for the second wicket off just 66 balls

Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers are undoubtedly RCB's biggest drawing cards but the star duo has failed to impress for the side this season and that has been one of the major factors in RCB languishing towards the bottom half of the IPL points table this season.

However, tonight the duo came together to help the side chase down a hefty target posted by Delhi in their own backyard and to consider that they were in a tough position when they started out, with RCB losing both their openers with just 18 runs on the scoreboard, it really was a match-winning partnership from the experienced duo.

They never allowed the required run-rate to creep as they played the big shots despite the loss of the two early wickets and the RCB skipper, in particular, looked in crisp touch.

Kohli was dismissed for 70 after a 118-run stand for the third wicket with the target still more than 50 runs away but de Villiers maintained his composure and form to finish off the job.