The second last game of the round-robin stage of the Indian Premier League (IPL) was scheduled between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Delhi Capitals (DC) at Abu Dhabi.
The match held relevance in context to the position of the points table. Both RCB and DC were placed second and third respectively before the start of the game.
It was the Shreyas Iyer-led DC side which came out triumphant by a margin of six wickets and confirmed the second place in the Playoffs. However, RCB also qualified for the same but only their position will be determined by the result of the game between Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Mumbai Indians (MI).
Both teams could have been knocked out with the various qualification scenarios dished out for the two teams at the innings break.
RCB put on a par score of 152/7 after being put to bat by Iyer. Devdutt Padikkal starred yet again for RCB with the bat. He scored a fluent knock of 50 off just 41 deliveries. The teenager entertained with five-boundaries during his outing.
After the solid platform laid by the skipper Virat Kohli (29 off 24) and Padikkal, RCB could not get the finishing impetus they desired. It was only due to the effervescent knocks from AB de Villiers (35 and 21) and Shivam Dube (17 off 11) that RCB could post a total above 150.
Coming out to bat, Shikhar Dhawan gave a flying start for the Capitals. Dhawan displayed his authority with a 41-ball 54.
However, the defining knock from DC’s innings came from Ajinkya Rahane, who finally answered his critics by taking the side to the cusp of victory.
The stylish right-hander hit a glamourous 60 which came off just 46 deliveries. DC was cruising at one point in time, with the score reading at 107/1 by the 13th over.
Shahbaaz Ahmed (2/26) and Washington Sundar (1/24) did well to add some spice into the contest. DC were soon reduced to 136/4 with the loss of Rahane’s wicket.
Nevertheless, Marcus Stoinis (10) and Rishabh Pant (8) kept their cool to take their team across the finishing line.
Brief Scores:
Delhi Capitals – 154/4 (Rahane – 60, Dhawan – 54) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore – 152/7 (Padikkal – 54, Nortje – 3/33) by 6 wickets
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