New Delhi: Royal Challengers Bangalore scored 180 runs after Delhi Capitals managed a hattrick across the 14th and 15th overs. Virat Kohli scored a cracking fifty with cameos by the top order to give a good start to RCB but Kuldeep Yadav picked up two consecutive wickets in the 15th over to dismantle the lower order. Spinners bowled well and Kuldeep ended up with the figures of 23/2.
After losing three quick wickets, Anuj Rawat and Shahbaz Ahmed could manage just 40 runs in 5.4 overs. While Shahbaz contributed 20* off 12, Anuj Rawat, coming in as the Impact Player, had somewhat of a negative impact with 15* off 22. With Wanindu Hasaranga and Wayne Parnell sitting in the dugout, sending Anuj ahead could have been a mistake by the RCB camp.
Faf du Plessis was explosive in the powerplay and scored 22(16) before getting dismissed to Mitchell Marsh as Aman Khan picked a great catch. Virat Kohli scored 50 off 34 which were the crucial runs for the team to get to a solid start, but he gave up his wicket to a full-toss by Lalit Yadav.
Glenn Maxwell played a brilliant cameo of 24 off 14, hitting three sixes. Harshal Patel, who was promoted to number 5, got out to Axar Patel after hitting a six, off a dismissal that is debatable. There was an appeal for stumping but the third umpire Michael Gough witnessed several spikes and gave him out caught behind. It was followed by Maxwell and Dinesh Karthik getting out to Kuldeep Yadav in the first two deliveries for the next over.
Apart from Kuldeep, Mitchell Marsh picked two wickets while Axar and Lalit had one each. Anrich Nortje bowled well apart from a beamer at neck height while Mustafizur Rahman could not control his line and length and went for 41 in three overs.
With Hasaranga by their side, RCB will back themselves to pick some wickets and have a chance to win while a couple of their decisions have been questionable.
