Patidar, Jacks, Dayal star in 47-run romp over DC
BENGALURU: Royal Challengers Bengaluru may have come late to the IPL party this season, but they have made every effort to turn the tide in their favour. On Sunday, the hosts came up with a performance highlighted by team effort to notch up their fifth win on the trot.
After being restricted to 187/9 by Delhi Capitals, the bowlers, led by pacers Yash Dayal (3/20), Cameroon Green (1/19) and Lockie Ferguson (2/23), made discipline their bowling mantra en route to a 47-run victory as the visitors folded up for 140 in 19.1 overs. The win propelled RCB to the fifth position with a match to go.
David Warner, returning after a three-week injury break, failed to make any impact, losing his wicket to spinner Swapnil Singh in the opening over. With Jake FraserMcGurk going back after being runout at the non-striker's end, Capitals were in deep trouble till Shai Hope (29) and stand-in skipper Axar Patel (57; 39b; 5x4; 3x6) offered hope with their 56-run fifth-wicket partnership. But Ferguson broke the stand with Karn Sharma plucking a brilliant diving catch to send back Hope. When Axar mistimed Dayal, DC needed 60 off 26 deliveries, an equation which proved insurmountable for the batters who followed.
In the fourth over when Virat Kohli (27) nicked Ishant Sharma to Abishek Porel, the Capitals pacer celebrated with a friendly nudge of the RCB opener even as eerie silence prevailed at the M Chinnaswamy stadium. In the following over, Rajat Patidar (52; 32b; 3x4; 3x6) marked the beginning of his adventurous innings with a scrumptious punch through the extra cover boundary off Mukesh Kumar. This got the packed house back on their feet, and during Patidar's 88-run association with Will Jacks (41; 29b; 3x4; 2x6), there was action, drama and emotions in plenty.
With RCB 61/2 at the end of powerplay, Capitals, led by stand-in skipper Axar, had a lot going for them. But they let RCB off the hook with some clumsy fielding. In a span of 11 deliveries starting with the eighth over, Patidar - on 42 and 47 - and Jacks - on 19 and 24 - were dropped twice each. While Axar was guilty of putting down the duo once each, Hope and Tristan Stubbs were the other guilty fielders. Patidar and Jacks did not maximise on the life lines, but they did push the run rate north. But the batters who followed didn't do enough.
Earlier, Kohli gave RCB the start that was expected of him, when he pulled Ishant over the square-leg boundary for a six in the opening over. Just as the duo was settling in, skipper Faf du Plessis gifted his wicket to Mukesh in the third over when he offered a catch to Jake Fraser-McGurk at deep backward point.
On a two-paced wicket, Patidar ran out of luck in the 13th over as Axar finally managed to hold on to a catch at extra cover off Rasikh Salam (2/23). Jacks followed, done in by a Kuldeep Yadav googly. With the two set batters back in the dugout, over the next 32 deliveries, RCB managed just 50 runs.
