On Saturday (April 16), Royal Challengers Bangalore defeated Delhi Capitals by 16 runs at Wankhede Stadium to move into the third position in the points standings. With the bat, Dinesh Karthik led the charge, while Josh Hazlewood wreaked havoc with the ball.
RCB was 13/2 when Maxwell led a fantastic counterattack. They slumped to 92/5 rapidly, but because to Karthik’s undefeated 66 off 34, they rallied to 189/5.
The Capitals got off to a fantastic start in the chase because to David Warner’s early half-century, but they ran out of steam as wickets fell regularly, with Hazlewood returning with 3 for 28.
Destructive Maxwell
As RCB, who were asked to bat first, experienced early setbacks, Maxwell was at the crease as early as the second over. Anuj Rawat was caught leg-before by Shardul Thakur’s opening delivery and then missed a flick in the second over.
In the third over, Faf du Plessis sliced a catch to Axar Patel at point, giving Khaleel Ahmed a wicket and left RCB at 13/2. just the third delivery he faced, he backed away and opened the face to a Khaleel delivery to guide the ball past a short third man for a four.
He then delivered a vicious cut-off Axar, clearing his front leg to belt a boundary through cover and getting inside the line of the ball to flick the ball over a short fine leg for another four, demonstrating his expertise in utilizing the crease to Mustafizur Rahman.
RCB managed 42 in the powerplay despite losing wickets because to his energetic batting. Meanwhile, Virat Kohli was run out for 12 off 14 an over later, but Maxwell did not modify his tactics. In the ninth over, he went after Kuldeep Yadav, pulling, driving, and slogging over midwicket for two fours and two sixes for 23 runs off the over.
Suyash Prabhudessai was dismissed for a duck by Axar, but Maxwell’s effort enabled RCB to reach 82/4 at the midway point of their innings. Maxwell celebrated his 100th IPL innings with a 30-ball fifty, but he fell trying to take on Kuldeep, leaving RCB at 92/5 in the 12th over.
Dinesh Karthik The Emerging Finisher
Image Source : India Today
Karthik had to come to the crease in the 12th over, despite his habit of playing as a finisher late in the innings. He needed some time to calm himself, and he even got a respite when Rishabh Pant snatched a difficult chance off Kuldeep’s bowling.
In the 15th over, he was on 7 off 13 when he pulled one flat off Khaleel for his first six. He kept a close eye on Mustafizur while launching another six off Khaleel. With RCB on 132 for 5 and with three overs to go, Karthik grabbed the initiative, and Mustafizur bore the brunt of it in the 18th over.
The first ball was an attempted lap shot that went for a four via the third man region after taking the edge. Slower deliveries followed, but Karthik judged them brilliantly, reverse-hitting one over short third man and scorching the next wide off cover for a hat-trick of fours.
Karthik ended the over with a four-over mid-off as he moved from 24 off 20 to 52 off 26. In the last over, Karthik hit a six off Shardul and a four off Kuldeep, while Shahbaz Ahmed finished unbeaten on 32 off 21 as their combination put on a 97-run partnership, the third-highest sixth-wicket partnership in the IPL.
The final four overs yielded 69 runs, allowing RCB to score the highest total at Wankhede Stadium this season.
Fear starts to the chase
Warner made his intentions known as early as the second ball of the chase. Maxwell, who had bowled the first over, was swept for six-over midwicket. Prithvi Shaw hit a six off a Mohammed Siraj delivery over midwicket.
while Warner hit a six off a short ball from Hazlewood. A Shahbaz delivery was likewise sent over the long-on fence by the left-hander. The Mumbai Indians have conceded the second-most sixes in the IPL so far, with 53.
Apart from the four sixes, the Capitals struck four fours on the powerplay as they raced to 57 in the fourth over, despite losing Shaw to Siraj when the opener mistimed a pull.
Control Of RCB
RCB squeezed in some tight overs to put the pressure back on the Capitals, despite the dew factor making bowling tricky. Warner added another six to his 29-ball fifty, this time against Wanindu Hasaranga. Mitchell Marsh, on the other hand, struggled to get going in his first IPL game in a long time.
In the four overs after the powerplay, only 22 runs were scored, with Marsh facing 14 deliveries for only seven runs. DC were 115/5 as Rovman Powell was sent for a golden duck, edging Hazlewood to the keeper, and Lalit Yadav was also dismissed in the same over.
While Rishabh Pant hit two fours off Hasaranga, DC’s struggles persisted, and Marsh was finally run out at the non-end striker’s after the ball deflected off Hasaranga’s fingertips.
Pant &DC Faded
DC had some optimism in the 16th over, which was bowled by Hasaranga and featured two sixes and a four. Long-on, Shardul’s six was hammered over. Despite attempting to hit it over long-on, Pant paddled one away for a four before slashing the ball over long-off.
A short ball from Siraj was also hit over the fence, bringing the total number of maximums conceded by RCB in this IPL to 62. Siraj dismissed Pant thanks to Kohli’s stunning one-handed, over-head catch while leaping.
With DC needing 34 more runs off 11 deliveries, Shardul was the next to fall, becoming Hazlewood’s third victim. They only got half of that because Hazlewood and Harshal were disciplined enough to keep DC from making a late comeback.
Edited By : Khushi Thakur
Published BY : Shubham ghulaxe
