Delhi Capitals beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by six wickets to progress to the IPL 2020 playoffs with 16 points and as the number two team in the tournament. Despite the loss, RCB also qualified for the playoffs as the third team in the tournament with 14 points. Either of SRH or KKR will now qualify as the fourth team for the playoffs. The result will be known after the game between Hyderabad and Mumbai in Sharjah on Tuesday, October 2.
Delhi Capitals won the toss and opted to bowl first in Abu Dhabi. The venue saw the chasing team win in the previous seven games and they decided to follow the same path. The Protean duo of Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje took five wickets between themselves to limit RCB to 152 for 7.
Devdutt Padikkal (50), Virat Kohli (29) and AB De Villiers (35) contributed to take the Banglore total past 150. Lack of intent from RCB in the middle-overs meant that they finished at a below-par total.
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Delhi Capitals Beat RCB To Finish Second On Points Table
In response, Delhi rode to a comfortable victory, courtesy fifties from Shikhar Dhawan (54) and Ajinkya Rahane (60). The experienced dup added an 88-run stand for the third wicket to turn the advantage in Delhi’s favor. The partnership happened after the early wicket of Prithvi Shaw for 9. The RCB bowlers posed no problems for the Delhi batters as they got to the total with an over to spare.
Yuzvendra Chahal failed to work his magic for his team this time around. Also, an injury to Chris Morris left the ground after bowling just two overs upfront.
What Was the Turning Point in the Game?
The Delhi bowlers restricting RCB to a manageable total was the biggest turning point in the game. The other turning point was the Delhi pacers taking five wickets between themselves while the RCB bowlers failing on that front. Anrich Nortje for his fiery spell of bowling was chosen as the Man of the Match. He took 3 for 33 in the game. He now has 19 wickets in the season so far with the playoffs still left.
“Coming into this game, small things started feeling better and I think those small things, once you get that right, you get your rhythm. We were thinking to make them hit to the bigger boundary and stick to our plans against each batsman” said the DC quick after his match-winning spell.
Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore are the three teams to have qualified for the IPL 2020 playoffs, after this game. The fourth-place will be a toss-up between Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad. Sunrisers need to win against Mumbai to progress to the playoffs. While a loss for SRH will see KKR make it through to the last four.
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