Virat Kohli leads Royal Challengers Bangalore’s 10-run win over Delhi Daredevils in last league game

Royal Challengers Bangalore beat Delhi Daredevils by 10 runs in the last league game of the tenth edition of the Indian Premier League on Sunday night at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium. Although an inconsequential match since both teams failed to qualify for the playoffs, it was a matter of pride for both teams looking to sign off on a high.

Kohli won the toss and RCB, electing to bat first, put up a modest total of 161. Delhi, in response, bungled the straightforward chase with frequent wickets, especially in the middle overs. Shami’s played a blinder 9-ball 21 to bring them close, needing 13 off the last over, but they fell agonisingly short in their last game.

Harhsal Patel, playing his first game for RCB this season, was chosen as the man of the man of the match for his 3 for 43, which included the crucial wickets of a Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant and Marlon Samuels.

Despite the win, RCB finished at the bottom of the table with even points, while Daredevils were placed sixth with 12 points.

Here are the big moments from the match.

Gayle gets a start

Chris Gayle made up for his two consecutive ducks and an overall average season with a 38-ball 48, but fell two short of only his second half-century this IPL. The West Indian started off by hitting Delhi Daredevils captain Zaheer Khan off his legs for two boundaries in the first over. He followed it up with two sixes off Mohammed Shami in his next two overs.

However, his opening partner Vishnu Vinod was dismissed early and cheaply (3 off 9) when Pat Cummins rattled his stumps in his very first over. But that brought captain Virat Kohli on crease and began a fruitful 66-run partnership between the two. Both aggressive batsman, they pulled free of Delhi’s tight bowling and brought up the fifty-run partnership for the second wicket in 41 balls, after targeting spinner Amit Mishra’s over for 19 runs.

But Gayle couldn’t go on to get a milestone, as he was dismissed in the very next over. Shahbaz Nadeem, who was consistently bowling as a chinaman to Gayle, bowled one that spun the other way and he mistimed it to give Zaheer a rather easy catch at midwicket. A tame dismissal after a promising start.

Kohli leads from the front...

But Kohli was far more resolute. It may have been an inconsequential match in context of this IPL, but Kohli walked to immense crowd applause from his home crowd at Kotla and gave them something to watch. The RCB captain led from the front, top-scoring with a 45-ball 56 studded with three fours and as many sixes. Kohli brought up his fifty, his fourth of the season, off 39 balls and it was another entertaining and important knock from the Indian captain. It was his fifty that held the innings together and took the team to a respectable total.

A shot that stood out was Kohli inexplicably chipping a low ball for six, perhaps a contender for the shot of the season. He clobbered the bowlers, both seamers and spinners, and looked capable of blasting his way to a big total at his home ground, until he ran into Zaheer Khan.

...As does Zaheer

Zaheer Khan has shown his captaincy chops through his stint at the helm of Delhi, with his clever bowling changes and crafty field placements. It was the change in bowlers that got the breakthroughs with the wickets of Vishnu and Gayle. He also contributed with a sharp runout of Travis Head (2 off 2) and the big wicket of Kohli in the eventful 17th over. Zaheer dropped a difficult return catch of Kohli on the first ball of that over. The batsman responded with a resounding six of the second. Kohli tried for another big shot on the next ball, but Zaheer anticipated it and sent a fuller delivery that messed his timing and it went straight to the fielder.

Kohli was enraged with himself after the wicket, as he looked set to get a big one. The over still went for 14 runs, after Kedar Jadhav smacked a six right after the wicket. Zaheer, after breaking his five-match wicket drought in the last game, finished with figures of 1 for 31 in what could be the 38-year-old last IPL match.

Avesh Khan’s blistering debut

The last match of IPL 2017’s group stages was also 20-year-old Avesh Khan’s first T20 match. The fast bowler has barely played five First Class matches, but impressed in the Under-19 World Cup in Dhaka last year, where India finished as runners-up. And the youngster could not have asked for a better start to his T20 career as he bowled an absolute screamer on his first ball and got the big wicket of Sanju Samson off his second. The delivery was high and fast and Samson’s attempt at a mistimed pull went straight to the fielder as Delhi’s was reduced to 0 for 1 in the very first over. He finished with seriously impressive figures of . Perhaps RCB needed a bowler like Avesh throughout the season?

Delhi batting flounders

As has far too often been the case with Delhi this season, their top batsmen failed to click together and provide a good start in the relatively simple chase. After Samson’s wicket in the first over, Karun Nair and Shreyas Iyer built a partnership of 41 before Nair fell in the sixth over. Iyer and Pant then began the recovery with a 46-run partnership. Together, they took Daredevils to 76 for two, needing 86 runs off 60 balls, at the halfway stage. However, the middle overs slump Delhi again, even as RCB didn’t let up on the intensity.

The 12th over was crucial as seamer Harshal Patel dealt RCB a double blow when he sent back Iyer and Marlon Samuels off successive deliveries. Corey Andesrson was soon stumped by Vishnu Vinod off Travis. Pat Cummins holed out after a six as well, leaving Delhi 113 for six.

But the big blow came when Patel bowled Pant well made 45 (off 34 balls), which began the decent for Delhi.

Shami and Mishra then tried their best, swinging their bats for several boundaries and bringing the equation down to 35 off 18 balls. However, both lower-order batsmen were dismissed by Pawan Negi, who also bowled the vital last over and finished with a solid 3 for 10 in only two overs.

In the end, Delhi fell short by only 10 runs, as they were bowled for 151 on the last ball. The team will rue their missed opportunities in the close last game, an apt reflection of their season gone by.