It was an interesting IPL match played on Sunday as Royal Challengers Bengaluru managed to pull off a nail-biting win over Delhi Capitals. RCB lost Devdutt Padikkal and captain Rajat Patidar in quick succession and found themselves in some trouble. But it was then that Virat Kohli and Krunal Pandya went out to score 119 runs for the fourth wicket partnership, setting up the target of 163 runs that RCB eventually chased. The win has made it their 6th consecutively away victory in the league’s 18-years and is a first for any team in the history of IPL.
They have not been doing well at home, winning just one out of four matches, but they are on fire while playing away. They set the record on winning the match against DC by six wickets. Krunal was the showpiece for his run of an unbeaten 73, while Tim David provided a nine-ball extra at five off his balls to finish the chase at Delhi’s Feroz Shah Kotla ground.
Kohli praised Pandya, stating, He can make that impact and we were just waiting for him to come into this tournament with the bat as well. Kohli himself scored a solid 51, while Pandya’s innings included five fours and four sixes that turned the game around in RCB’s favor. This match marked Bengaluru’s sixth straight away win and they are looking for their first IPL title since 2008.
On the bowling front, five wickets were bagged by Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood together with Delhi at just 162-8. It started with Axar Patel because he bowled such great, effective spin in an early double-strike of England’s Jacob Bethell and Devdutt Padikkal. Despite run-out Rajat Patidar, there was no stopping runs as Kohli and Pandya kept finding boundaries with dodging singles.
Once settled, Pandya batted aggressively, reaching a fifty in just 38 balls, while Kohli recorded his sixth half-century of the season, batting way ahead of Suryakumar Yadav in the chase for the top run-scorer. He was finally out caught by Dushmantha Chameera, but Pandya and David guided RCB to victory.
