While the table-toppers are extending their winning-streak, Delhi Daredevils are also trying to maintain their “reputation” with a losing-streak from the bottom of the pile. The hapless side picked up their third successive defeat in the tournament as Royal Challengers Bangalore handed them a 5-wicket defeat in their very own backyard.

The RCB bowling attack hasn’t been in its best; hence, Virat Kohli opted to chase at the batting-friendly pitch.

Prithvi Shaw and Jason Roy couldn’t offer a good start to their side, but the young batters of the team played sensibly and restored the innings.

DD skipper Shreyas Iyer added 32 runs to the total and Rishabh Pant, who clubbed blazing century in the previous game, also played a crucial 61-run innings. A 93-run stand between the two was followed by another unbeaten partnership of 61 runs between Vijay Shankar and Abhishek Sharma.

17-year-old Abhishek, who made his debut for the Daredevils in this match, showed the side what they were missing on. He smashed 46 off 19 balls while Shankar provided support to the youngster with a 21-run innings. Together they helped Delhi register a total of 181 runs for the loss of 4 wickets.

Yuzvendra Chahal and Moeen Ali bowled brilliantly while the rest of the bowlers got hit for more than 9 runs an over. Chahal scalped 2 wickets and Ali got one wicket, Mohammed Siraj also joined the hunt by picking up the important wicket of the DD captain.

In reply, RCB also had a poor start and lost their openers early. The onus of keeping RCB’s season hopes alive was now on two of the finest batsmen in the world of this era — Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. They stitched a 118-run stand which set the tone for the team.

Kohli did his part and got out on 70. Following his departure, RCB lost the wickets of Mandeep Singh and Sarfraz Khan as well, but de Villiers remained unbeaten and took his team past the finishing line with an over to spare. The South African played a quick-fire innings of 72 off 37 runs and did justice to his caliber.

DD included Sandeep Lamichhane in the playing eleven for the first time after 11 games and like Abhishek he will also make his side wonder why they didn’t unleash the full potential of the squad. The Nepal cricketer took a wicket for DD while conceding only 25 runs in 4 overs. Harshat Patel and Amit Mishra also took a wicket each while Trent Boult scalped two, yet none of them were as economical as  Lamichhane.

RCB are now standing 7^th in the points table with four wins in eleven games. They will need to win all of their remaining games to stay in the race.

 

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