Tristan Stubbs played a mature knock and remained unbeaten on 60 off 47 balls, while KL Rahul made a very good half-century at the top of the order. But it was David Miller who wrote the redemption story and finished things off with an unbeaten 22 runs off 10 balls that took them over the line. RCB batted first, and through Phil Salt’s 63, scored 175/8 with DC coming back well in the end overs.
In reply, DC lost three early wickets. But they came back through the partnership of Stubbs and Rahul before Axar played the cameo and retired hurt. It was David Miller who put on a show and finished things off with an unbeaten 22 off 10 balls. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the star with 3 wickets that he took and was ably supported by Krunal Pandya, but the rest went for runs. So, DC climbs upwards in the table to 4th place.
Phil Salt shines, but DC put in an all-round bowling display to keep RCB down to 175/8
Put into bat first, Phil Salt and Virat Kohli came out to bat for RCB while Auqib Nabi had the ball in hand for DC. The RCB openers came out all guns blazing as the duo took the attack to the opposition. Both Salt and Virat took the attack to the opposition, with Salt doing most of the damage, with Kohli playing second fiddle. The duo put on 52 for the first wicket inside 5 overs. When things were going well for RCB, Virat holed out in the deep as he fell for 19 off 13 balls with 3 fours to his name to Lungi Ngidi.
Devdutt Padikkal came out to bat next. RCB were 59/1 in the 6 overs of power play. Salt continued the assault on the DC bowlers while Padikkal tried to get his eye in. The duo put on 47 for the second wicket before Padikkal fell for 18 off 13 balls with one four and one six to his name to Axar Patel. RCB were now 99/2 in 10 overs. Captain Rajat Patidar came out to bat next. Just 6 runs were added to the tally before the set batter Salt, who had completed his fifty, fell for 63 off 38 balls with 4 fours and 3 sixes to his name to Kuldeep Yadav.
Tim David came out to join Patidar in the middle. David got himself going while Patidar hardly faced the bowling in this partnership. The duo put on 26 runs for the 4th wicket before the captain Patidar fell for 8 off 4 balls with a maximum to his name to Mukesh Kumar. Jitesh Sharma came out to bat next and never got going through the innings. David and Jitesh added another 15 runs to the tally before David fell for 26 off 17 balls with 3 fours and a maximum to his name to Axar Patel.
Romario Shepherd came out to bat next. Just three runs were added to the score before Shepherd fell for 1 off 4 balls to Kuldeep Yadav. Krunal Pandya came out to bat next. Krunal started to take the attack to the opposition while Jitesh was struggling and never got the timing going at all. The duo took their time and added 23 runs for the 7th wicket before Krunal was run out for 12 off 10 balls with one six to his name.
Impact Player Rasikh Salam came out to bat next. The score was still at 172 as two balls later, the struggling innings from Jitesh came to an end as he fell for 14 off 20 balls with one four to his name to Lungi Ngidi. Bhuvneshwar Kumar came out to bat next. Bhuvneshwar added 3 runs to the score as RCB finished with 175/8 in 20 overs. Salam remained unbeaten on 0 off 0 balls while Bhuvneshwar Kumar was unbeaten on 3 off 2 balls. 11 extras given by the fielding side.
DC bowlers bowled well and came back in the death overs. Axar Patel was the pick of the bowlers for DC with figures of 2/18 in 3 overs. Kuldeep Yadav finished with 2/32 in 4 overs. Lungi Ngidi finished with 2/39 in 4 overs. Mukesh Kumar finished with 1/32 in 4 overs. Auqib Nabi bowled 3 overs for 36 runs. T Natarajan bowled 2 overs for 16 runs. This meant that DC’s target was 176 runs to win in 20 overs.
Tristan Stubbs & KL Rahul’s impressive fifties help DC get over the line with a ball to spare
Chasing 176 for the win, Pathum Nissanka and keeper batter KL Rahul came out to open for DC while Bhuvneshwar Kumar had the ball in hand for RCB. Bhuvneshwar gave RCB the perfect start as in the first over, just 2 runs were scored on the board before Nissanka fell for 1 off 2 balls, thanks to great usage of the DRS. Impact Player Karun Nair came out to bat next. KL Rahul took the attack to Josh Hazlewood and made his intentions clear.
The duo added just 14 runs for the second wicket before Karun fell for 5 off 5 balls with one four to his name to Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Sameer Rizvi came out to bat next. Bhuvneshwar had two in the over and three in total as Rizvi fell for 2 off 3 balls to leave DC struggling at 18/3 in 2.5 overs. Tristan Stubbs came out to bat next to join Rahul in the middle.
Both of them started to do the repair job. KL Rahul was the aggressor while Stubbs played the role of an anchor player. Rahul was taking the attack to the RCB bowlers as Hazlewood and Suyash Sharma also went for runs. DC were 50/3 in the first six overs of the power play. The duo carried on their merry ways, with Stubbs at that stage going at a run after a ball. DC went to 87/3 in 10 overs. At the start of the 11th over, the big moment in the game came when KL Rahul was holed out in the deep off 57 off 34 balls with 6 fours and 2 sixes to his name to Krunal Pandya as Virat Kohli took an excellent catch in the deep.
Captain Axar Patel came out to bat next and was quick off the blocks as he showed great intent out there. Axar looked as fluent as he could ever look out there. But soon, he picked up an injury and was struggling as the physio came out to check him. Stubbs slowly changed gears as well to attack RCB. Axar tried but was struggling out there. The duo took the score to 134/4 in 15.5 overs when Axar retired hurt for a well-made 26 off 19 balls with 3 fours to his name. David Miller came out to bat next with 4.1 overs left in the innings.
Things slowed down a tad with Hazlewood bowling an excellent over. The required rate went up, and the crowds were cheering RCB on. But DC were not going to go away with Stubbs and Miller at the crease. The two South Africans started attacking the bowling and brought the equation down to 25 off 12 balls. The next over went for 10 runs as Stubbs had completed his fifty now. With 15 needed off 6 balls, Romario Shepherd, who hadn’t bowled till the last over, got the ball.
The first two balls went for two singles. But with 13 needed off 4 balls, Miller showed his class as he smacked two sixes off two balls to bring the equation down to 1 off 2 balls. He hit the next ball for a boundary to complete his redemption story from the defeat against GT, where he could not take the side home. But tonight, he was there and finished things off in style. Stubbs was the real hero as he was unbeaten off 60 off 47 balls with 4 fours and one six to his name, while Miller was unbeaten on 22 off 10 balls with one four and two sixes to his name.
DC finished with 179/4 in 19.5 overs with 6 extras given by the RCB bowlers. For RCB, Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 3/26 in 4 overs. Krunal Pandya bowled well for his 1/24 in 4 overs. Josh Hazlewood went for 38 in 4 overs. Rasikh Salam went for 40 in 4 overs. Suyash Sharma finished with 0/31 in 3 overs. Romario Shepherd finished with 17 runs off 5 balls. So, DC won this thriller by 6 wickets with a ball to spare.
What Lies Ahead
So, DC, with this huge win, climbs to 4th in the table while RCB stays in second place. The next game is the Southern Derby as SRH hosts CSK in Hyderabad in a crucial game. It’s going to be a huge game for both teams. Let’s see who will come out on top in this game.
Also Read:Â RCB vs DC: Lungi Ngidi & Co Restrict RCB To 175