On this day in 2011 - Kohli’s genius helps RCB beat Delhi

Chris Gayle had just arrived and blown away Kolkata Knight Riders on his debut for the team he would call home for the next 6 years. However, with almost half the league games done and dusted, RCB needed to start churning out wins. Delhi’s Feroz Shah Kotla played host to RCB in the game which would mark the half-way stage for Bangalore.

Having elected to bowl first on a track offering a bit of spice for the fast bowlers, the two left-armers, Zaheer Khan and S Aravind troubled the dangerous Delhi opening pair of Warner and Sehwag. Zaheer Khan knocked over Warner’s stumps in the fifth over, and an accurate throw by Abhimanyu Mithun from short fine leg off a silly attempt at a quick run found Sehwag short of his crease. Mithun soon created an impact with the ball too, as a quick delivery beat Matthew Wade’s attempted pull and shattered his stumps. Delhi were in trouble at 69/3 after 10 overs.

Venugopal Rao and James Hopes went about the job of resurrecting the Delhi innings well. The duo added 47 runs for the fourth wicket and were scoring at a fair clip. It took the genius of RCB skipper Daniel Vettori to break the partnership. Venugopal Rao went for a heave across the line and Vettori deceived him for pace. But, Delhi were looking to set a competitive total and RCB had to be wary of the now set James Hopes. Hopes, having gotten to his half century and with less than two overs to go in the innings tried to launch Mithun over the straight boundary, but only managed to edge it to de Villiers behind the stumps. Delhi kept going till the end, but could muster only 160 on the board - a total which would be competitive, yet not comfortable enough to assure a win.

A mistimed pull by Dilshan meant RCB had lost a wicket off the very second ball of the innings and Delhi were given renewed hope. Chris Gayle was joined by the local boy Virat Kohli. Kohli started off like a man on a mission, scoring 6 gorgeous boundaries in the first ten balls of his innings. The counter-attack had quashed any hopes of Delhi putting Bangalore under pressure. Gayle at the other end took on the South African giant Morne Morkel and passed the test with flying colours. RCB had raced to 62/1 in the first 5 overs; Gayle and Kohli matching each other for strike rate.

The Feroz Shah Kotla crowd was treated to a display of classy batting by local boy Virat Kohli

Delhi Daredevils got a big break when Gayle looked for a pull shot off James Hopes, but the lack of pace meant he only found Venugopal Rao at deep square leg. Delhi now had a sniff. But, Kohli was in the zone that day. The dismissal of Gayle made little difference to him, as he brought up his fifty off the very next ball with a nonchalant flick to the boundary. Delhi needed something out of the ordinary to halt the RCB cruise and it came in the form of David Warner. A direct hit from the deep found AB de Villiers short of the crease. A couple of balls later, Kohli played one on to his stumps off Morne Morkel and Delhi were well back in the game. RCB still needed 65 at a run-a-ball.

With the required rate well under control, Saurabh Tiwary and Cheteshwar Pujara needed to put up a partnership and ease the nerves in the dugout. The next few overs went by quietly and the pressure was now starting to tell. Pujara’s eyes lit up when the part-timer Yogesh Nagar dished up a long hop, which the former pulled straight to Warner at deep mid-wicket. RCB had now lost half their side with still 54 runs to get. The equation soon became 44 off the last 5.

But, in captain Daniel Vettori, RCB had a steady head in the centre. He launched one over long-off off Irfan Pathan to release the valve. When Tiwary cleared the ropes off Morne Morkel, RCB seemed to be back on top. But, Morkel got his own back when Tiwary trying a cheeky shot guided the ball to the Delhi wicket-keeper Naman Ojha. A couple of balls later, Mithun lost his cool and his wicket. Only two runs off the first four balls of the 18th over meant, the required rate was nearing undesirable territory for RCB. With 20 needed of 14, RCB found an unlikely her in Syed Mohammad, the left arm spinner, with the bat. First a flick of the wrists and then a steer off the next ball knocked off eight runs and brought the runs needed to 12 off the last two overs. The two left arm spinners guided Bangalore home without any further hiccups and RCB had for the first time in the season won two games on the bounce.