We finally have clarity over the teams that have qualified for the playoffs as Delhi Capitals avenge the Royal Challengers Bangalore at Abu Dhabi. Ajinkya Rahane’s fifty and Anrich Nortje three-wicket haul ensured Delhi Capitals swing it past the Virat Kohli led franchise as they have now secured the 2nd place in the points table and will go up against Mumbai Indians in the first qualifier.

It all started at the toss as Shreyas Iyer the Delhi Capitals won the toss and elected to bowl first at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi. Both sides made a few changes as Shivam Dube and Shahbaz Ahmed came in for Saini and Gurkeerat Singh whereas Delhi Capitals played an extra seamer Daniel Sams at the cost of Shimron Hetymer.

Delhi Capitals Secure 2nd Position

Yet again Royal Challengers Bangalore opening batter Devdutt Padikkal took the side off to a fine start as he went on to score his fifth IPL fifty of the season. Skipper Virat Kohli at three initially struggled to spinners Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin but hanged on until the 12th over until he was dismissed by Ashwin. In the end, the late fireworks by AB de Villiers and Shivam Dube ensured that RCB reach an acceptable total of 152 at the end of 20 overs.

Delhi Capitals in the chase started off with Prithvi Shaw losing his wicket very early on in the innings but it was Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane who held on, took their time and notched up a 88 run partnership putting Delhi Capitals in a comfortable position to finish the game off as wickets in the latter half of the innings resulted in both Dhawan and Rahane giving their wickets away.

In the end, it was Rishabh Pant and Marcus Stoinis who finished the game off as Delhi Capitals go through to a second place in the points table.

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It’s Just Doing The Basics Right: Anrich Nortje

The man of the match of today’s game between Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore was Anrich Nortje for the three wickets he picked up at crucial stages of the game. At the post-match presentation, Anrich Nortje said that it was all about keeping the basics right in this game and not to think about the past performances in mind.

“I said it time and time again, it’s just doing the basics right and wasn’t about something special from one guy. Coming into this game, small things started feeling better and I think those small things, once you get that right, you get your rhythm,” Anrich Nortje said. 

Anrich Nortje further mentioned how they planned to make the RCB batsmen target the larger boundary. But with dew coming into play they did end up making changes as per the situation of the game.

“We were thinking to make them hit to the bigger boundary and stick to our plans against each batsman. There was little bit dew at the end of our innings and we tried not to be predictable. Yorker would have been the obvious option and we wanted to change it and see how it goes and wanted to hit the hard length. Having a bit of extra pace always helps. All ready for the playoffs (smiles),” Anrich Nortje added.