What we saw tonight at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi was an exhibition of swing bowling from Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar as they decimated DC in the power play to set up the match. Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar picked up 7 wickets between them as RCB reduced DC to 9/6, and eventually, the Capitals got to 75 in the 17th over. Abishek Porel, as an Impact Substitute, scored 30 runs as the top-scorer for DC.
In reply, RCB completed the formalities through the top three as they finished off the chase in 6.3 overs to win by 9 wickets. Jacob Bethell made 20 off 11 balls while Virat Kohli remained unbeaten on 23 off 15 balls, and Devdutt Padikkal was unbeaten on 34 off 13 balls as the chase was done and dusted in 6.3 overs. RCB is firmly in second place while DC are struggling in seventh place.
Josh Hazlewood & Bhuvneshwar Kumar skittle DC out for 75 in 16.3 overs
Put into bat first, Sahil Parakh and KL Rahul came out to bat for DC while Bhuvneshwar Kumar had the ball in hand for RCB. RCB got off to the perfect start as Parakh was cleaned up by Kumar for a silver duck. Nitish Rana came out to bat next. Just 2 runs were added to the tally before Rahul was removed for 1 off 3 balls by Josh Hazlewood. Sameer Rizvi came out to bat next. Josh had two wickets in two balls before Rizvi was prized out for a golden duck by Hazlewood. Tristan Stubbs came and survived the hat-trick ball.
Stubbs hit a boundary. Just 5 runs were added to the tally before Stubbs was dismissed for 5 off 3 balls, with one four to his name to Kumar. Captain Axar Patel came out to bat next. Bhuvneshwar added another wicket in the over as captain Axar fell for a bronze duck. Impact Player Abishek Porel came out to bat next. Just one run was added to the tally before Rana fell for 1 off 9 balls to Hazlewood yet again. DC were 8/6 in 3.5 overs. David Miller came out to bat next.
Porel and Miller started to forge some sort of a partnership. After the end of the power play, DC were 13/6 in 6 overs, the lowest power play score in the history of IPL. The duo added a critical 35-run stand for the 7th wicket to give the score some respectability before Miller fell for 19 off 18 balls with 3 fours to his name to Rasikh Salam. Kyle Jamieson came out to bat next to join Porel in the middle.
The duo tried to forge some sort of a partnership to get to some sort of a total. They added 19 runs for the 8th wicket before Jamieson fell for 12 off 13 balls with one four and one six to his name to Krunal Pandya. Kuldeep Yadav came out to bat next. Kuldeep struggled out there but hung in there. The duo added 9 runs for the 9th wicket before Kuldeep fell for 3 off 11 balls to Suyash Sharma. Dushmantha Chameera came out to bat next. He survived 3 balls.
Porel hit a boundary to get to 30, which was a useful knock. Just 4 runs were added to the score before Porel was the last man out for 30 off 33 balls with 3 fours to his name to Hazlewood. Chameera remained unbeaten on 0 off 3 balls as DC were bundled out for 75 in 16.3 overs. 4 extras given by the fielding team.
RCB were excellent with the ball in hand. Josh Hazlewood was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4/12 in 3.3 overs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar supported him well with his 3/5 in 3 overs. Suyash Sharma finished with 1/7 in 4 overs. Krunal Pandya finished with 1/9 in 2 overs. Rasikh Salam finished with 1/21 in 2 overs. Romario Shepherd finished with 0/21 in 2 overs. This meant that RCB had a mere 76 runs to win the match in 20 overs.
RCB completed the formalities in 6.3 overs, winning by 9 wickets
Chasing 76 for the win, Impact Player Jacob Bethell came out to open the batting with Virat Kohli while Kyle Jamieson had the ball in hand for DC. Both batters played out the first two overs with caution. Then Bethell accelerated forward and made an immediate impact. Kohli was interested in the singles. The duo added 26 inside 3 overs before Bethell fell for 20 off 11 balls with one four and two sixes to his name to Jamieson. Devdutt Padikkal came out to bat next.
Paddikal came out all guns blazing as he played his natural game and took the attack to the opposition. Kohli hit a boundary down the ground early on and then ran singles as he got to 9000 runs in IPL cricket. Padikkal was unstoppable, and after Kohli reached 11 runs and the 9000 run mark, he decided to finish things off in style. Kohli hit two glorious sixes in a row to finish things off in style.
Virat Kohli was unbeaten on 23 off 15 balls with one four and two sixes to his name, while Padikkal was unbeaten on 34 off 13 balls with 3 fours and 3 sixes to his name. The duo added an unbroken 51 runs off 22 balls as RCB completed the formalities in 6.3 overs, finishing with 77/1. 0 extras given by the fielding side. A 9-wicket win with 13.3 overs to spare for the visitors.
From DC’s point of view, Kyle Jamieson finished with 1/42 in 3 overs. Dushmantha Chameera finished with 0/18 in 2 overs. Axar Patel bowled an over for 5 runs. T Natarajan bowled 3 balls for 12 runs. So, RCB thrashed DC by 9 wickets. Josh Hazlewood was adjudged the Player of the Match.
What Lies Ahead
So, RCB, with this win, has solidified 2nd place in the points table while DC are languishing in 7th place with loads of work to do. RCB next plays on Thursday night away in Ahmedabad against the Gujarat Titans, while DC plays RR on Friday night in Jaipur. Tomorrow night, we will see the unbeaten league leaders, PBKS, in action in New Chandigarh up against RR, who are in 4th place as we speak. Two good teams against each other.
Let’s hope for a closer game in New Chandigarh.
Also Read: DC vs RCB: Can Axar Patel’s DC Upset Surging RCB?