Delhi Capitals beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by 59 runs in Dubai to go to the top of the IPL 2020 points table with four wins from five games. It was yet another match where the chasing team lost in Dubai, despite CSK presenting the template on acing a chase against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sunday evening.
It was a complete performance from a relatively young Delhi Capitals side who go strength to strength with every match in this IPL season. RCB skipper Virat Kohli won the toss and put the opposition into bat. The decision backfired right from the first over as Delhi Capitals started well. Prithvi Shaw (42) and Shikhar Dhawan (32) added 68 inside the powerplay before Shaw departed.
Skipper Shreyas Iyer (11) was dismissed cheaply after his 88* in the last game against KKR. Rishabh Pant (37) and Marcus Stoinis (53) then added an an89-run stand after Iyer’s dismissal. It was Stoinis’ second fifty in this IPL season as he continues to prove his potential for the Delhi side.
RCB Bowlers’ Same Old Story Against Delhi Capitals
It was the same old story for the RCB bowling attack. They leaked runs inside the Powerplay, controlled the middle overs and leaked runs again at the death. After leaking 60 in the Powerplay, they have just 30 in the middle overs between overs 7 to 13. However, Pant and Stoinis ensured that Delhi finished strong as they eventually did putting 196 for 4.
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RCB’s chase did not have the best of starts either. Devdutt Padikkal was dismissed early for just 4. Aaron Finch despite getting three lives in his short innings. was ultimately dismissed by Axar Patel on 13. Once they failed to get a good start in the Powerplay, they were always playing catch-up with the asking rate constantly rising. AB de Villiers (9) fell too in the last ball of the powerplay to add to RCB’s miseries.
Virat Kohli played a lone hand of 43 and ran out of partners at the other end. Kagiso Rabada accounted for his wicket in the 14th over to put an end to all hopes of an RCB win. He finished with four in the game as RCB faced their second loss of the campaign. Despite this loss, they remain in the top four at the moment.
What was the turning point in the Game?
The target was chasable had RCB kept their wickets intact throughout. That they lost four wickets inside the Powerplay, took the sting out of their chase and proved to the turning point in the Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore contest. This was Delhi Capitals’ ninth win over their opponents.
Axar Patel for his figures of 2 for 18 was chosen as the Man of the Match. He was a last-minute replacement in the playing XI after Amit Mishra was ruled out from IPL 2020 owing to a broken finger.
“I knew I would bowl in the Powerplay and I had practised for it as well. I think I executed my plans really well. My plan after speaking to batsmen was that since the wicket was slow, I wanted to bowl at the stumps and vary the pace.
In the powerplay, I was in a mood to defend at first, but when the third ball spun I changed gears and got into an attack mode” said the left-arm spinner.
