IPL 2018, RCB vs DD: 5 talking points

Royal Challengers Bangalore registered their second win of the tournament by defeating the Delhi Daredevils by six wickets at Bangalore.

Rishabh Pant’s 85 and Shreyas Iyer’s 52 guided Delhi Daredevils to 174/5 in their 20 overs.

RCB lost both their openers early but AB de Villiers’ 90 from just 38 balls saw them cross the finish line with quite some time to spare.

The win saw RCB rise from seventh to fifth position in the table. Delhi Daredevils on the other hand, suffered their fourth defeat of the competition and continue to be at the bottom. Let’s take a look at five talking points of the match.

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#5 Delhi’s sloppiness resumes

An opening pair that has the flamboyancy of Jason Roy and the temperament and experience of Gautam Gambhir.

The enthusiasm and exuberance of Pant and Iyer and the destructive abilities of Glenn Maxwell and Chris Morris at the middle-order.

Not to forget the bowling department comprising of Mohammed Shami and the always-lethal Trent Boult with Morris being equally handy.

Not only does Delhi have a strong squad but they also have more than suitable replacements in Colin Munro, Prithvi Shaw, Shahbaz Nadeem and Vijay Shankar.

So far, this squad has been strong only on paper as their performance this season has been extremely poor.

They began with two one-sided defeats against Punjab and Rajasthan before registering their first win of the tournament against Mumbai Indians.

However, they lost their next match to Kolkata Knight Riders despite being in a strong position during the run-chase for some time.

Today, they posted a total of 174 against Royal Challengers Bangalore but that wasn’t enough as their opponents chased down the target with two overs to spare.

DD will have to regroup and work on their strategy or else their fate this tournament might be similar to those of 2011 and 2013 when they ended last.

#4 The young guns shine for Delhi

Pant and Iyer brought Delhi back on track

Delhi Daredevils were off to a very shaky start as they not only lost both their openers early but their run-rate was also pretty low. DD’s run-rate was below six for the first half of their innings.

However, after the 10th over, youngsters Pant and Iyer began to elevate Delhi’s run rate by smashing some massive shots off the RCB bowlers. The duo added 75 from just 49 deliveries before Iyer was dismissed shortly after reaching his fifty.

Pant continued to bat and batted till nearly the end of the innings before being dismissed halfway through the last over of the innings before being dismissed for a 48-ball 85. Delhi added 71 runs in the final five overs to reach a challenging total of 174.

#3 Delhi’s bowlers disappoint again

The DD bowlers were totally helpless against De Villiers tonight

Delhi Daredevils’ bowling department have a major missing in Kagiso Rabada but they still have two world-class bowlers in Boult and Shami.

Their bowling department also consists of the likes of Morris and Nadeem with Maxwell being a more than handy part-timer.

However, their bowling has been nothing but disappointing this season. There hasn’t been a single match where Delhi’s conceded a run-rate that has been less than eight an over. Today, the bowlers were extremely underwhelming.

Boult and Maxwell began well, giving away only 24 runs in their first two overs combined. The other bowlers gave disastrous performances. DD did not have Shami today and played Harshal Patel instead. Patel dismissed Kohli but conceded 33 runs from his three overs.

Morris was extremely expensive too, conceding 43 runs from his four overs. However, Delhi’s biggest disappointment, at least as bowling is concerned, was Nadeem.

He gave away 27 runs from just two overs. Their lacklustre bowling have conceded them totals of 200 and above in two of their last three matches.

Delhi has a fairly strong batting but provided Gambhir and the team management do not come up with the best combination of bowlers and the bowlers do not work on their game, Delhi might keep on conceding similar scores in the matches to come.

#2 Gambhir disappoints again

Gambhir scored only three runs tonight

After serving and leading the Kolkata Knight Riders for six years, Gambhir came back to Delhi Daredevils and was announced as their skipper.

Gambhir had a good start to the tournament as he top-scored for Delhi in their opener against Kings XI Punjab with 55 from 42 deliveries.

However, his performances have drastically dipped following that game. Gambhir scored only 15 against Mumbai Indians and this was followed by eight against KKR.

Tonight, Gambhir could only score three runs from 10 balls against Royal Challengers Bangalore.

For a player with a sea of experience who should set an example for his teammates, Gambhir’s numbers are horrendous.

If the 36-year old’s poor run persists, he might see himself being dropped soon.

#1 ABD finally rises to the occasion

ABD won the match for RCB

AB De Villiers’ performances in RCB’s previous two games against Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians has been disappointing as he scored 20 and one in both matches when RCB had to chase down big totals.

Tonight, RCB’s target wasn’t as high compared to those against Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians but they had to chase down 175 which was certainly no walk in the park.

The three-time runners-up lost both their openers early and then came De Villiers. He mesmerized the Chinnaswamy crowd with his simply marvellous batting.

ABD stitched a partnership of 63 with Kohli for the third wicket. Following Kohli’s dismissal, De Villiers continued to smash fours and sixes which gave RCB full control of the match.

The South African went on to score 90 from just 38 deliveries which helped RCB chase down the target in 18 overs.

He was adjudged Man of the Match and the pace of his innings resulted in RCB rising from seventh to fifth in the table.

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