DC vs RCB in 50 Words
All five frontline DC bowlers picked up a wicket apiece, but Avesh stood out once more with 1/24. ABD’s 75* powered RCB to 171/5. After a shaky start, Pant and Stoinis steadied the ship before Hetmyer went absolutely berserk. Alas, a miracle win wasn’t meant to be.
Avesh Shines Once Again, AB Does an AB
Rishabh Pant won the toss yet again, and unsurprisingly chose to chase in what was also Delhi Capitals’ 200th match in the IPL.
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We’d made one change, Ishant Sharma came into the Playing XI for his first game of IPL 2021 in place of Ravichandran Ashwin. Straight away, he began proceedings with the white new ball. Padikkal and Kohli got a few boundaries away in the first three overs, but Avesh Khan came roaring back, getting the big fish Virat Kohli to chop one onto the stumps.
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Fun fact - Avesh Khan has picked up a happy knack of scalping the big wickets, with Faf du Plessis, MS Dhoni, David Miller, Suryakumar Yadav, Nicholas Pooran and Jonny Bairstow all making the list so far.
On the very next ball, Ishant Sharma castled Devdutt Padikkal with an absolute peach and went on to make it a wicket maiden. Sharmaji ka beta was back and how!
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RCB 36/2 - The powerplay belonged to DC, and Maxwell was determined to make things right for the Men in Red. He took on Amit Mishra and hit one straight over his head for a maximum. In the next over, he took on Axar Patel and deposited him over long-on. Just when he looked dangerous, Amit Mishra deceived him in the air and had him holed out at long-on for 25. That was the fifth time the wily leggie had gotten rid of The Big Show in the IPL.
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Consolidation began as Patidar and de Villiers started to stitch a handy partnership together. Rajat Patidar impressed with a couple of good-looking sixes, while AB had just started going at the other end. The duo put on 54 runs for the fourth wicket before Patidar departed for 31, handing Axar his first wicket.
The next phase of the game, from overs 16 to 20, AB was just being AB. He took on his countryman Rabada in overs 16 and 18 and also made use of every other boundary opportunity to get to fifty in the 19th over. Stoinis took the brunt of a well-set AB de Villiers as Mr. 360 smashed him for three sixes in the final over to take his score to an unbeaten 75* off 42 balls and RCB’s total to a healthy 171/5 from the 20 overs.
Hetmyer and Pant Pull off a Miracle… Well, Almost!
Once the sandstorm at the Narendra Modi Stadium gave way for the cricket to continue, Dhawan and Shaw strode out to the middle for DC with 172 to get. Daniel Sams took the new ball. It was a mixed start for DC, as Shaw and Dhawan got a few boundaries away before Gabbar eventually perished in an attempt to pull Jamieson. Meanwhile, Shaw had gone past his first big IPL milestone.
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Steve Smith walked out at number 3, but the Aussie had to take the long walk back after being caught behind one boundary and five balls into his innings.
Rishabh Pant came in at number 4 with his side in some trouble. There was more trouble to come however, as Shaw chased a wide ball to nick one through to AB. It’s not ideal when a side is 47/3 chasing 172, and Marcus Stoinis and Rishabh Pant had to do the repair work.
The duo played out a couple of quiet overs till the halfway mark, but at 62/3 after 10 overs with 110 left to get from 60 deliveries, it was time to go for it. Stoinis did just that, and targeted both the RCB spinners with some cracking shots.
Rishabh Pant got into the act too with back-to-back boundaries off the Purple Cap holder, Harshal Patel. However, just as the partnership was building, Stoinis lost his wicket to another caught behind to cut the stand short at 45. One more scalp was added to Harshal Patel’s ever-growing tally of wickets.
With 75 needed from 36 balls, the task looked like it was getting slightly out of hand. But Shimron Hetmyer threw the kitchen sink at everything that was thrown at him, and it was coming off. He took Siraj and Patel for two fours and a six before dismissing Jamieson out of his sight three times in the 18th over, with the long-on and mid-wicket fielders close witnesses to three towering sixes.
25 needed from 12 read the scoreboard. Hetmyer reached a blitz of a 50 in just 23 balls, and Pant got away a helicopter shot for four to score 11 off the penultimate over.
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The last over saw Mohammad Siraj execute his yorkers to perfection, as the DC southpaws found it difficult to get him away. It came down to 10 from 2 balls, and then to six from one. Alas, Rishabh Pant only managed a four in an anti-climactic end for DC fans. The Capitals had to take a loss by one solitary run.
Hetmyer dropped down on his knees, and a visibly shattered Rishabh Pant dragged himself back to the pavilion.We’re pretty sure DC fans gave them both virtual hugs from the safety of their homes though, they’d given the chase their all.
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Brief Scores
Royal Challengers Bangalore 171-5 in 20 overs (AB de Villiers 75* off 42, Rajat Patidar 31 off 22, Avesh Khan 1-24, Ishant Sharma 1-26); Delhi Capitals 170-4 in 20 overs (Rishabh Pant 58* off 48, Shimron Hetmyer 53* off 25, Harshal Patel 2-37, Kyle Jamieson 1-32)
DC vs RCB in 50 Words
All five frontline DC bowlers picked up a wicket apiece, but Avesh stood out once more with 1/24. ABD’s 75* powered RCB to 171/5. After a shaky start, Pant and Stoinis steadied the ship before Hetmyer went absolutely berserk. Alas, a miracle win wasn’t meant to be.
Avesh Shines Once Again, AB Does an AB
Rishabh Pant won the toss yet again, and unsurprisingly chose to chase in what was also Delhi Capitals’ 200th match in the IPL.
View this post on Instagram
We’d made one change, Ishant Sharma came into the Playing XI for his first game of IPL 2021 in place of Ravichandran Ashwin. Straight away, he began proceedings with the white new ball. Padikkal and Kohli got a few boundaries away in the first three overs, but Avesh Khan came roaring back, getting the big fish Virat Kohli to chop one onto the stumps.
View this post on Instagram
Fun fact - Avesh Khan has picked up a happy knack of scalping the big wickets, with Faf du Plessis, MS Dhoni, David Miller, Suryakumar Yadav, Nicholas Pooran and Jonny Bairstow all making the list so far.
On the very next ball, Ishant Sharma castled Devdutt Padikkal with an absolute peach and went on to make it a wicket maiden. Sharmaji ka beta was back and how!
View this post on Instagram
RCB 36/2 - The powerplay belonged to DC, and Maxwell was determined to make things right for the Men in Red. He took on Amit Mishra and hit one straight over his head for a maximum. In the next over, he took on Axar Patel and deposited him over long-on. Just when he looked dangerous, Amit Mishra deceived him in the air and had him holed out at long-on for 25. That was the fifth time the wily leggie had gotten rid of The Big Show in the IPL.
View this post on Instagram
Consolidation began as Patidar and de Villiers started to stitch a handy partnership together. Rajat Patidar impressed with a couple of good-looking sixes, while AB had just started going at the other end. The duo put on 54 runs for the fourth wicket before Patidar departed for 31, handing Axar his first wicket.
The next phase of the game, from overs 16 to 20, AB was just being AB. He took on his countryman Rabada in overs 16 and 18 and also made use of every other boundary opportunity to get to fifty in the 19th over. Stoinis took the brunt of a well-set AB de Villiers as Mr. 360 smashed him for three sixes in the final over to take his score to an unbeaten 75* off 42 balls and RCB’s total to a healthy 171/5 from the 20 overs.
Hetmyer and Pant Pull off a Miracle… Well, Almost!
Once the sandstorm at the Narendra Modi Stadium gave way for the cricket to continue, Dhawan and Shaw strode out to the middle for DC with 172 to get. Daniel Sams took the new ball. It was a mixed start for DC, as Shaw and Dhawan got a few boundaries away before Gabbar eventually perished in an attempt to pull Jamieson. Meanwhile, Shaw had gone past his first big IPL milestone.
View this post on Instagram
Steve Smith walked out at number 3, but the Aussie had to take the long walk back after being caught behind one boundary and five balls into his innings.
Rishabh Pant came in at number 4 with his side in some trouble. There was more trouble to come however, as Shaw chased a wide ball to nick one through to AB. It’s not ideal when a side is 47/3 chasing 172, and Marcus Stoinis and Rishabh Pant had to do the repair work.
The duo played out a couple of quiet overs till the halfway mark, but at 62/3 after 10 overs with 110 left to get from 60 deliveries, it was time to go for it. Stoinis did just that, and targeted both the RCB spinners with some cracking shots.
Rishabh Pant got into the act too with back-to-back boundaries off the Purple Cap holder, Harshal Patel. However, just as the partnership was building, Stoinis lost his wicket to another caught behind to cut the stand short at 45. One more scalp was added to Harshal Patel’s ever-growing tally of wickets.
With 75 needed from 36 balls, the task looked like it was getting slightly out of hand. But Shimron Hetmyer threw the kitchen sink at everything that was thrown at him, and it was coming off. He took Siraj and Patel for two fours and a six before dismissing Jamieson out of his sight three times in the 18th over, with the long-on and mid-wicket fielders close witnesses to three towering sixes.
25 needed from 12 read the scoreboard. Hetmyer reached a blitz of a 50 in just 23 balls, and Pant got away a helicopter shot for four to score 11 off the penultimate over.
View this post on Instagram
The last over saw Mohammad Siraj execute his yorkers to perfection, as the DC southpaws found it difficult to get him away. It came down to 10 from 2 balls, and then to six from one. Alas, Rishabh Pant only managed a four in an anti-climactic end for DC fans. The Capitals had to take a loss by one solitary run.
Hetmyer dropped down on his knees, and a visibly shattered Rishabh Pant dragged himself back to the pavilion.We’re pretty sure DC fans gave them both virtual hugs from the safety of their homes though, they’d given the chase their all.
View this post on Instagram
Brief Scores
Royal Challengers Bangalore 171-5 in 20 overs (AB de Villiers 75* off 42, Rajat Patidar 31 off 22, Avesh Khan 1-24, Ishant Sharma 1-26); Delhi Capitals 170-4 in 20 overs (Rishabh Pant 58* off 48, Shimron Hetmyer 53* off 25, Harshal Patel 2-37, Kyle Jamieson 1-32)
