New Delhi: Fine fifties by Virat Kohli (55 off 46) and Mahipal Lomror (54 off 29) propelled Royal Challengers Bangalore to 181/4 against Delhi Capitals in Match No. 50 of IPL 2023 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, here on Saturday.
Apart from Kohli and Lomror, skipper Faf du Plessis also played a vital knock to contribute to RCB’s decent total. On the other hand, Mitchell Marsh was the most successful bowler for Delhi Capitals with his superb 2-21.
After winning the toss and opting to bat first, openers Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli gave RCB a strong start, scoring 51/0 in the powerplay.
Both Faf and Kohli were a bit cautious in their approach in the first four overs and RCB were 23/0. However, after accessing the conditions, they decided to free their arms and took Mukesh Kumar and Khaleel Ahmed to the cleaners, scoring 13 and 15 runs respectively in the 5th and 6th over.
Kohli and Faf looked in decent touch and continued to steady the RCB innings. The run-rate didn’t spike up too much on a pitch that is stopping a touch but RCB looked to build a solid base to capitalise on later as Faf and Kohli took them to 79/0 at the end of 10 overs.
Delhi Capitals were desperately searching for a wicket and it was Mitchell Marsh, who ended the 82-run opening wicket stand by removing Du Plessis. In the very next ball, Marsh, who removed Glenn Maxwell for a duck and brought Delhi back in the game.
RCB were 82-2 after 10.4 overs and needed another partnership to keep them ahead in the game. The new batter Mahipal Lomror joined an already set Kohli at the crease and Delhi bowlers were able to keep things under their control for the next few overs.
Just when RCB were showing signs of dipping, Lomror propped them with a few lusty hits, especially against Kuldeep Yadav. On the other hand, Kohli anchored the innings with yet another half-century off 42 balls.
With 126/2 after 15 overs, RCB had the platform to finish strong and Lomror hit Mukesh Kumar for a four to make a move towards that. But Kohli flicked the ball straight to Khaleel, who got both hands to it, then juggled and kept tossing the ball close to his chest before finally clinging on to it at short fine leg.
The designated RCB finisher Dinesh Karthik then joined hands with Lomror, who hit Ishant for two fours and took 11 runs from that over. Khaleel Ahmed gave away 15 in his over as Karthik and Lomror smashed the left-arm pacer for a six and boundary.
Though Mukesh Kumar bowled a fantastic 19th over to concede just 6 runs, he couldn’t prevent Lomror from getting his maiden IPL fifty off 26 balls. Khaleel started the last over of the innings by removing Karthik in his first ball and used his slower ones to perfection and gave just 9 runs to keep RCB to 181/4 in 20 overs.
Brief scores:
Royal Challengers Bangalore 181/4 in 20 overs (Virat Kohli 55, Mahipal Lomror 54; Mitchell Marsh 2-21) vs Delhi Capitals.
(IANS)
