Marcus Stoinis’s 53, Axar Patel’s 2/18 help Delhi Capitals ease past RCB

An evening that did not go RCB's way! There is no hiding from the fact that the Challengers were second best by a fair margin, and the result was in no way a misrepresentation of the performances on the day. The result will probably hurt a bit more after the past two games had yielded the full four points.

Right from the very first over, the Capitals stamped their authority on the game having been put in to bat. The powerplay went for 63 runs, Prithvi Shaw doing the bulk of the scoring. You know it is not your day when even the usually miserly Yuzvendra Chahal goes for 18 runs in his first over. While the Capitals were on the prowl for runs, Washington Sundar at the other end kept chipping away with accurate bowling which again proved extremely effective even against the marauding Delhi openers. His 3 overs going for only 17 runs, while from the other end 46 runs had been scored, was a testament to his growing influence for RCB.

Perhaps the best phase of the game for RCB came right after. A returning Mohammed Siraj bumper got the in-form Prithvi Shaw. Soon Shikhar Dhawan followed. If the first 6 overs had gone for 63, in the next 6 RCB had pulled the game back beautifully with figures of 3/31. Devdutt Padikkal showed composure on the boundary line beyond what is expected of his age, taking a stunning catch to put an end to Shreyas Iyer’s innings.

Just when RCB seemed to have clawed their way back into the game, a counter-attacking knock from Marcus Stoinis tilted the balance back in Delhi’s favor. While Rishabh Pant was still finding his bearings, Stoinis’s innings put Delhi back on top. The RCB bowlers had failed to capitalize on the post-powerplay fightback.

Chasing 197 was never going to be easy. Devdutt Padikkal and Aaron Finch have been a breath of fresh air at the top of the order this season for RCB, but Delhi managed to snare them both cheaply. When AB de Villiers’s innings came to a premature end, it was all down to Captain Kohli along with Moeen Ali to pick up the pieces while having to make sure the required rate does not jump beyond the achievable. Moeen struggled to get the ball away, probably a bit of rust of not having played a competitive game for nearly a month hampering his batting. 

While Virat was trying to anchor the chase, the growing required rate did not help. An attempted big shot against Kagiso Rabada put an end to Captain Kohli’s valiant 43. In the end, there was too much left to do for the lower middle order, leading to RCB succumbing to their second defeat in the Dream11 IPL 2020 by 59 runs to the Delhi Capitals. With their next fixture being on Saturday, it gives the team plenty of time to go back to the drawing board as we take on the Chennai Super Kings.