New Delhi: Fine fifties by Virat Kohli (55 off 46) and Mahipal Lomror (54 off 29) went in vain as Delhi Capitals beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by seven wickets in Match No. 50 of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, here on Saturday.
Half-centuries by Virat and Lomror propelled Royal Challengers Bangalore to 181/4 in 20 overs. 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.
Chasing a challenging total, openers David Warner and Philip Salt gave Delhi Capitals a flying start. From the very first over, Warner cleared his intent by smashing Siraj for two boundaries while Salt also joined the party and picked crucial boundaries and sixes off Maxwell and Philip to take Delhi to 29/0 after the first three overs.
With both Capitals openers batting freely, RCB skipper Du Plessis was forced to bring Wanindu Hasaranga in the 4th over itself but it didn’t yield great results as Warner clubbed the spinner for a six and a boundary.
His batting partner Salt then took Siraj to the cleaners by hitting 6, 6, and 4 off consecutive deliveries which rattled the pacer. Siraj and Salt had a heated discussion at the pitch and umpires and Warner had to intervene to diffuse the situation.
It was Hazlewood, who finally gave RCB the much-needed breakthrough by removing Warner on a slower ball outside off. However, Mitchell Marsh came out swinging hard, picking up a four and a six and taking his to 70/1 — Delhi Capitals’ best Power-play in IPL 2023.
Even after the Power-play, Salt showed no signs of slowing down and made a mockery of the pitch and RCB bowling to get fifty off just 28 balls. On the other hand, Marsh was giving him enough support with his timely boundaries as Delhi Capitals were 115/1 after 10 overs.
All-rounder Harshal Patel, who came in as Impact Player replacing Kedhar Yadav, finally gave RCB a breakthrough by dismissing Mitchell Marsh. Rilee Rossouw was the new batter, joining Salt as Delhi Capitals needed 59 runs in 54 balls.
Meanwhile, Salt was just unstoppable. The England batter was fed some slot balls and he let them go free to carry the momentum before getting out in the 16th over for 87 off 45.
From there on, Rilee Rossouw (35 off 22) played an impressive knock and along with Axar Patel (8 off 3) took Delhi Capitals over the victory line in the 17th over.
Brief scores:
Royal Challengers Bangalore 181/4 in 20 overs (Virat Kohli 55, Mahipal Lomror 54; Mitchell Marsh 2-21) lost to Delhi Capitals 187/3 in 16.4 Overs (Philip Salt 87, Rilee Rossouw 35; Josh Hazlewood 1-29) by 7 wickets
(IANS)
