Royal Challengers Bangalore missed out on a place in the top two of the Indian Premier League after their match against Delhi Daredevils was washed out.
After a tight first two overs, the Daredevils opening pair of Quinton de Kock and Shreyas Iyer took advantage of some inviting bowling from the seamers to put on an opening stand of 55 from 38 balls. The partnership was ended when Iyer cut a wide long hop from Harshal Patel straight to Chris Gayle at backward point for 20 from 18.
De Kock moved to his half century from 30 with three consecutive boundaries off David Wiese. However RCB held their premiere spinner, Yuvzendra Chahal, back until the 12th over and he immediately got De Kock out for 69 just as the South African batsman began to accelerate.
The wicket left the Daredevils 110 for two – still a perfectly good platform from which to kick on in the final eight overs. Again they looked to go on the attack, taking 19 from Chahal’s second over but losing Yuvraj Singh for another low score – 11, caught in the deep again – to its fifth ball. Harshal then removed Kedar Jadhav for a golden duck three balls later.
Angelo Mathews, recalled in place of the ill Albie Morkel, was the fifth wicket to fall, in incredibly unlucky circumstances. A straight drive from Duminy brushed Chahal’s fingertips on its way into the stumps with the Sri Lanka captain’s bat fractionally raised.
The sudden collapse stymied the Daredevils, as RCB pulled back the run rate and the Daredevils were indebted to their captain JP Duminy’s 35-ball half-century to post a competitive total.
Requiring 188 to win, the Royal Challengers faced seven balls, reaching two for no wicket, before prolonged rain prevented any further play.
