RCB chronicle history in the capital as all-round excellence humbles the Capitals

RCB completed a hat-trick of wins to catapult themselves to the top of the points table as an all-round showdown saw them expunging Delhi Capitals in the latter’s den.

Back in Bengaluru, despite compelling Delhi into a tight corner, KL Rahul managed to find a way through and help the Capitals cross the finish line.

However, things turned out to be diametrically different as the caravan arrived in the capital of India. Rajat Patidar won the toss and opted to bowl first. Jacob Bethell was handed his RCB debut after Phil Salt missed out due to a fever. The rest of the team remained unchanged for the Royal Challengers.

Delhi did get off to a fine start as Abhishek Porel (28) and Faf du Plessis (22) were off to a flyer. Porel regulated the powerplay with a volley of boundaries before Josh Hazlewood unlocked his God mode to produce the all-important mishit from the southpaw. Karun Nair (4) couldn’t contribute much either as Yash Dayal removed him in no time.

The fall of Nair brought two former RCB players in the mix, as KL Rahul joined forces with Faf du Plessis. The pair added 28 crucial runs but the scoring rate didn’t really take off under the watchful eyes of the RCB bowlers. With the pressure mounting, Krunal Pandya delivered a telling blow as he got rid of the erstwhile RCB captain, Faf with Virat Kohli taking the catch.

Another important partnership did take flight as Axar Patel (15) tried to chime in with a vital cameo to steady the ship for the Capitals. However, things were simply not to be as Josh Hazlewood returned to action and razed through the defences of the DC captain as his middle stump went for a cartwheel.

With half the side back in the hut, it was KL Rahul who decided to switch gears but came short-handed against Bhuvneshwar Kumar, falling for a sedate 39-ball-41. Impact player, Ashutosh Sharma didn’t have much of an influence on the fabric of the fixture as Kumar rattled through his gate to reduce DC to 120/6.

It was eventually Vipraj Nigam (12) and Tristan Stubbs (34) who did some damage control towards the end. Nigam sacrificed his wicket to get Stubbs back on strike as a fine effort from Virat Kohli in the deep caught him short of the popping crease at the non-striker’s end while Kumar bagged a third to send Stubbs packing with a ball remaining in the innings. At the end of the 20 overs, DC could only manage 162/8. Kumar was the pick of the lot with figures of 3/33 while Hazlewood’s brace looked to accentuate RCB’s dominion over the Capitals.

Starboy Bethell (12) did get off to a fiery start, hammering a four and a six in his sojourn in the center. However, Axar Patel’s double whammy in the same over proved to be the onset of an unexpected storm for the visitors. Bethell holed out to Karun Nair while Devdutt Padikkal lost his timbre without troubling the scorers at all. The equation got a lot more complicated when an electric throw from Karun Nair sent Rajat Patidar (6) back to the pavilion as RCB wobbled at 26/3.

A surprise change in the batting order saw Krunal Pandya being promoted ahead of Jitesh Sharma, Tim David and Romario Shepherd and the change worked wonders. After weathering the early storm, Krunal Pandya and Virat Kohli hunkered down to work in no time at all, laying the foundation for a race to the finish line.

Kohli continued his extraordinary run, keeping a calm head around his shoulder as he smacked another vigilant half-century. He played the second fiddle to Krunal Pandya’s ruthless aggression at the other end as the partnership added 119 runs for the fourth wicket, almost running away with the game. Kohli’s 47-ball-51 allowed Pandya to get into the act and after the initial jitters were shaken off, what followed suit was relentless brutality.

Krunal stayed unbeaten for a 47-ball-73, rocking five fours and four sixes. With the fall of Virat Kohli, things got slightly tricky as RCB needed 17 off the final 12. Tim David got off the mark with a single off Chameera’s last ball and retained the strike for himself.

Axar Patel went for experience as he called Mukesh Kumar into the attack. The first ball of the 19thover was hacked away over Kumar’s head beyond the ropes as Tim David simply dished out a show of his brute force. The following delivery from Mukesh Kumar was parked beyond the square leg fence with a bounce along the way and to add insult to the wounds of DC, it was a waist-high full-toss, thereby deemed as a no-ball.

David showed no mercy at all in the free-hit as Mukesh’s attempted yorker was squeezed through the point by the hard-hitting Aussie all-rounder. He administered the coup-de-grace with a flick onto the leg side as RCB etched history by winning six away games on the trot. Krunal Pandya won the Player of the Match award for his all-round show in the capital.