Royal Challengers Bangalore defended a target of 158 to post their first win in the tenth edition of the Indian Premier League. Kedar Jadhav’s spirited 69 took Bangalore to 157/8. In response, Delhi’s batting was abysmal except for Rishabh Pant’s gritty 36-ball 57. However, he could not do it alone and Delhi were kept to 142/9, losing by 15 runs.
Daredevils go for pace, RCB for spin
Both the teams read the pitch differently. Delhi went big on pace and went in with Chris Morris, Pat Cummins and Zaheer Khan. Bangalore, on the other hand, went in with three proper spinners, Pawan Negi, Iqbal Abdulla and Yuzvendra Chahal. The Daredevils’ Karun Nair, while talking to the commentators while fielding, joked about Bangalore reading the pitch ar more differently but also said that there was plenty of dew around and hinted that the pitch wouldn’t be very conducive for spin. Amit Mishra would prove him right later in the innings.
Morris gets six times lucky
Delhi’s pace strategy paid off immediately. Chris Gayle is always a big wicket and at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, doubly so. The big West Indian had stuck around with one four in his six before a low full-toss from Morris lured him into a flashing shot. He only managed to splice it away towards mid-off where Sanju Samson took a good diving catch. It was the sixth time Chris Morris had got Gayle in the IPL. He followed up the wicket with three more wickets, two in the last over and a good catch to get rid of the dangerous Kedar Jadhav. 4-0-21-3. Job well done.
Miserly Nadeem
For a franchise which has seen many names come and go, 27-year-old Shahbaz Nadeem is a rarity - he has been with the Delhi Daredevils since 2011. A steady customer, Nadeem came into the IPL, after finishing as the highest wicket-taker in the Ranji Trophy. And immediately proved his worth, giving away only two and four runs in his first two overs. Even better, he deceived Shane Watson with a beautiful, loopy delivery, leaving him stumped. He finished with figures of 4-0-13-1. The hero who operates within the shadows.
Jadhav turns on the heat
An over can change momentum in Twenty20 cricket. But the Daredevils would have scarcely thought Amit Mishra would be the one who would deliver that over, considering the leggie’s good form in the limited-over. Till then, Delhi had done everything to plan: got the big guns of Shane Watson and Chris Gayle out, kept the run rate down.
But Kedar Jadhav has already shown he doesn’t too care too much for reputations. Mishra was slog-swept fiercely, over and over again, in the course of one over. He was hammered for 24, with two sixes and two fours. From 74/3 in 12 overs, RCB cruised to 98/3 in 13 and Jadhav went from 15 off 17 to 39 off 23. He didnt stop there, racing to a 26-ball fifty and finally finishing on a 37-ball 69, studded with 5 fours and 5 sixes. The man who got him? The wily old fox, Zaheer Khan.
Through the gates
For all their three spiners, it was the pacers who gave RCB opening. Tymal Mills demolished Aditya Tare’s stumps with extra pace. And Billy Stanlake, a tall Australian pacer, unleashed a peach, beating Karun Nair for pace and taking out his middle stump. Pace is pace, yaar. And how good to see it in India?
It also continued Karun Nair’s pathetic run of form since that 303. His run of scores after that knock read 14, 12, 28, 7, 14, 12, 4, 26, 0, 23, 5 and now 4.
Loose shots from Delhi
What should have been an easy chase was made very tough by Delhi due to some poor shot selection. Aditya Tare was castled by Tymal Mills and Karun Nair got a peach but Sam Billings was guilty of trying to hit a very wide ball and only managing a top-edge which was caught. Sanju Samson played a ugly flat-batted swipe to be out while Carlos Brathwaite went for an even uglier heave to Chahal and was bowled. Some of these batsmen are India’s next generation and they should be doing much better.
Rishabh Pant’s incredible mental toughness
You can only have respect for Rishabh Pant. The 19-year-old played in the match, just hours after performing the last rites of his father. Imagine what he must have been going through. Pant smashed the first ball he faced for a six and held Delhi Daredevils’ innings together as wickets fell at the other end.
It must have been frustrating for the young lad with the other Delhi batsmen intent on throwing the match away. Yet, he kept his cool, got the runs required on his way to a special half-century and took the team as close as he could. But then he had to sit and watch Mishra repeatedly flay away at thin air as Delhi needed 19 with 9 balls to go. Left to do all the hard work, Pant swung wildly off the first ball of the last over, missed and slowly walked off.
Watto keeps his cool
The RCB captain gave away 14 runs in his first two overs. But when the going got tough, he was the man who brought himself on...and delivered. In the 17th over with Delhi requiring 37 off only 24 balls, he conceded only 5 runs and took the wicket of Pat Cummins. Then in the penultimate over, he conceded just two runs. Swung it around for RCB.
Brief scores:
Royal Challengers Bangalore 157/8 in 20 overs (Kedar Jadhav 69, Shane Watson 24; Chris Morris 3/31, Zaheer Khan 2/31) beat Delhi Daredevils 142/9 in 20 overs (Rishabh Pant 57, Sam Billings 25; Pawan Negi 2/3, Billy Stanlake 2/29) by 15 runs.
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