MATCH REPORT
Follow UsShimron Hetmyer almost overpowered AB de Villiers' brilliance but Mohammed Siraj somehow managed to defend 14 runs in the final over and gave Royal Challengers Bangalore a thrilling one-run win over Delhi Capitals in Ahmedabad on Tuesday (April 27). Rishabh Pant too was there till the very end but couldn't finish the job in what was Delhi's 200th game in the Indian Premier League. With this win, Bangalore moved to the top of the points table.
The surface wasn't perfect for batting but it was surely not as bad as what Punjab Kings made it look last night. Asked to bat, Bangalore lost their openers early but Rajat Patidar (22-ball 31) and Glenn Maxwell (20-ball 25) chipped in with handy cameos. RCB needed something special from de Villiers and the Superman from South Africa didn't disappoint. The swashbuckling right-hander whacked three fours and five sixes in his 42-ball 75* and propelled his team to a competitive total of 171/5 in their 20 overs.
All of a sudden, prior to the second innings, there was a sandstorm and that kept the dew away. Every RCB bowler bowled with great discipline and had Delhi on the mat before Hetmyer walked in and started hitting sixes for fun. Pant was still around but looked far from his best. The wicketkeeper-batsman scored 58* off 48 deliveries - his slowest fifty in IPL, while Hetmyer smashed two fours and four maximums in his 25-ball 53* and kept Delhi alive till the very last over.
Harshal Patel finished with figures of 2/37, while Siraj conceded 44 runs for his one wicket, but when the time came to step up, the two young Indian bowlers did the job for Bangalore. Siraj was superb in the final over and kept nailing those yorkers, not allowing Pant and Hetmyer to get underneath it. The Men in Red were outclassed by Ravindra Jadeja in their last game but have managed to make a stunning comeback. Bangalore are now winning these big moments and as a result, have won five of their six encounters. Meanwhile, Delhi are still at No. 3, having won four of their six games.
AB de Villiers does it again!
Replacing R Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, who was playing his first game of the season, bowled with great control in the powerplay. Devdutt Padikkal (14-ball 17) and Virat Kohli (11-ball 12) were beaten quite a few times but kept finding boundaries in the first four overs. The two put on 30 runs before getting knocked over off consecutive deliveries. Avesh Khan, who has been brilliant so far this season, gave Delhi their first breakthrough in the fourth over. Kohli guided him for a boundary in the same over but when he tried it again, the right-hander ended up dragging it back onto the stumps.
Meanwhile, Ishant kept taking the ball away from Padikkal before using a leg-cutter to castle the left-hander in the very next over. Delhi were superb in the powerplay as Bangalore could only score 36 runs. This was the first time this season RCB scored less than 45 in the powerplay. Amit Mishra was brought into the attack straightaway against Maxwell and the dynamic right-hander greeted him with a six. The legspinner however had his revenge in the very next over and had Maxwell caught at long-on. This was the fifth time Maxwell was dismissed by Mishra in IPL.
This was a perfect opportunity for Patidar to make a substantial contribution and the right-hander from Madhya Pradesh started pretty well. He took 10 deliveries to settle in and then lofted Mishra for a maximum down the ground. He along with de Villiers kept the scoreboard moving before finally changing gears in the 14th over. Patidar wasn't around for too long, but de Villiers batted till the very end. In the process, he also went past 5000 runs in the tournament.
Avesh (1/24) was phenomenal but Rabada ended up conceding 38 in his four overs. There was not much turn on offer, as Pant said after the match and as a result, Mishra bowled only three overs. Marcus Stoinis was asked to bowl the final over and that's when de Villiers wreaked havoc. The 37-year-old clobbered three sixes in the final over as Bangalore accumulated 23 runs off the last six deliveries. And, that's what took them past the 170-run mark. Delhi needed 10 off the final two balls but Pant could only hit two fours.
Uncharacteristic Pant, blistering Hetmyer
Prithvi Shaw (18-ball 21) got off to a solid start in the second innings but Delhi lost in-form Shikhar Dhawan (6) and Steve Smith (4) inside four overs. Shaw played a couple of authoritative shots before falling to Harshal. The right-arm seamer, who was slammed for 37 runs by Jadeja in the last encounter, got Shaw caught behind in his very first over and put Bangalore in a commanding position. Delhi needed their captain to deliver and Pant played against his instincts and along with Stoinis brought Delhi back on track.
The Australian smoked 22 off 17 but before he could do any further damage, Harshal sent him back to the hut. The onus was now on Pant to change gears but it was Hetmyer who went berserk. The left-hander from West Indies tonked Siraj over long-on for his first six and then slammed the very next delivery for a boundary towards deep square leg boundary to get the ball rolling in the 15th over. Kyle Jamieson and Harshal conceded only 15 in the next two overs and got the equation down to 46 off 18.
But, that's when Hetmyer turned the game on its head. Jamieson kept bowling full-tosses and the left-hander kept striking it for sixes. Hetmyer smashed three sixes in the 18th over, but Harshal bowled a pretty decent penultimate over, giving away 11 runs. While Hetmyer was going all guns blazing, Pant failed to get his timing right. The two however would have fancied their chances against Siraj but the young bowler held his nerve and won the game for his team.