IPL 2021: Twitter Reacts As Royal Challengers Bangalore Beat Delhi Capitals By 1 Run

By Yash Mittal

Updated - 28 Apr 2021, 01:26 AM

RCB, IPL 2021
RCB. [Image-IPLT20]

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A brilliant cameo by Shimron Hetmyer wasn’t enough for the Delhi Capitals as Mohammed Siraj bowled a brilliant final over against an off-color Rishabh Pant to help Royal Challengers Bangalore eke out a one-run-win in Ahmedabad.

Chasing 172 to win, Delhi Capitals got off to a poor start despite Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan blazing away to 23 runs off the first two overs.

Kyle Jamieson sent back the in-form Shikhar Dhawan, who, in an attempt to swivel pull the tall pacer, holed out at fine-leg.

Mohammed Siraj dismissed Steve Smith [Image-IPLT20]
Steve Smith started off with an imperious flick off Jamieson but he was sent packing by Mohammed Siraj courtesy of a brilliant scrambled seam delivery that straightened to induce a thick outside edge off Smith’s bat.

Delhi Capitals managed 43 runs in the powerplay and the onus of spearheading the chase fell on captain Rishabh Pant and Prithvi Shaw.

Pant got a lucky reprieve in the 7th over when he successfully reviewed the on-field LBW call off the bowling of Washington Sundar.

Harshal Patel of Royal Challengers Bangalore celebrates the wicket of Prithvi Shaw
Harshal Patel of Royal Challengers Bangalore celebrates the wicket of Prithvi Shaw (Photo-IPL)

Harshal Patel, however, landed another blow on Delhi Capitals in the next over when Prithvi Shaw ended up toe edging a short and wide delivery straight to AB de Villiers.

Marcus Stoinis looked all at sea against the leg-spin of Chahal. After being completely deceived by the wrong-un, Stoinis missed the slider and was only saved by the Umpire’s Call on impact.

With 110 needed off the last 60 balls, Delhi Capitals needed a move-on.

Stoinis stroked three fours in the next two overs but Delhi Capitals needed their skipper, who was going at less than run-a-ball to shift gears.

Harshal Patel [Image-IPLT20]
Pant started the next over bowled by Harshal Patel with two consecutive fours- a swivel pull behind square followed by a fierce cut past backward point. Patel, however, once again had the last laugh as he induced an outside edge off Marcus Stoinis bat on the final ball to break the partnership.

The wicket of Stoinis proved to be a blessing in disguise for Delhi Capitals as Shimron Hetmyer came out all guns blazing. Hetmyer smoked Siraj for a four and a six in the 15th over. He got a life thanks to Devdutt Padikkal’s drop catch on the first ball of the 16th over bowled by Jamieson. And, Hetmyer made RCB pay for it.

Shimron Hetmyer [Image-IPLT20]
The left-hander, en-route to a 23-ball 50, smashed Jamieson for three sixes in the 18th over. The duo backed it up with 11 runs in the penultimate over to reduce the equation to 14 off the last six balls.

Mohammed Siraj jammed in four yorkers in a row to give just 4 runs against Pant. Pant smashed a boundary off the penultimate delivery to reduce it to six off the last ball. But Pant could only manage a four, giving Royal Challengers Bangalore a much-deserved one-run win.

 

AB de Villiers’s whirlwind 75* off 42 balls propelled Royal Challengers Bangalore to 171 against Delhi Capitals

Batting first, Royal Challengers Bangalore got off to a poor start as they lost both Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal inside the first six overs.

Avesh Khan provided the first breakthrough for Delhi Capitals as he knocked over Indian skipper Virat Kohli with a brilliant back-of-a-length delivery.

Virat Kohli, Avesh Khan
Avesh Khan dismisses Virat Kohli. (Photo: BCCI/Screengrab)

It all happened during the last ball of the fourth over when Virat Kohli, in an attempt to guide the ball to the third-man region, ended up chopping it onto his stumps.

Khan, sensing that Virat was looking to guide the ball to the third-man region, bowled a very good nip-backer close to the back of a length and ensured that he bowled it close to off-stump.

The wicket of Virat Kohli (12 off 11 balls) was Avesh Khan’s 12th scalp in the ongoing season. In six games thus far, Avesh Khan has taken these 12 wickets at an average of 11.92 and a respectable economy rate of 7.53.

Following Virat Kohli’s wicket, the Royal Challengers Bangalore were dealt with another body blow as Ishant Sharma knocked over the dangerous-looking Devdutt Padikkal with a brilliant nip-backer after a series of outswingers.

Royal Challengers Bangalore, Delhi Capitals, Rishabh Pant, Glenn Maxwell
Mishra eventually dismissed Maxwell [Image-IPLT20]
With just 36 runs on the board in the first six overs, Glenn Maxwell proceeded to up the ante by smashing Amit Mishra and Axar Patel for a couple of sixes in the 7th and 8th over.

But just as it looked that Maxwell was warming up for another brilliant knock, Amit Mishra proceeded to knock over the swashbuckling batsman in his very next over as he lulled him into a slog across the line over long-on.

With three wickets down for 60 in the 9th over, the Royal Challengers Bangalore needed their talisman AB de Villiers to address the fledgling ship.

AB de Villiers [Image-IPLT20]
And, the champion batsman did that with absolute disdain. De Villers (75* off 42 balls) first stitched a 54-run-stand with Rajat Patidar (31 off 22 balls) in 38 balls before the latter perished against Axar Patel.

With just 33 runs coming between overs 15-19, RCB needed a big final over to finish the innings off with a bit of momentum. And, they did exactly that. Delhi Capitals made the mistake of giving Marcus Stoinis the final over and ABD, who during the course of his innings became the second fastest to 5000 IPL runs (in terms of innings) and the fastest (in terms of balls faced) made them pay heavily for it as he smoked the Aussie all-rounder for three sixes to eke out 23 runs off the last balls and ensure that Royal Challengers Bangalore finished at 5/171.

 

Here’s how Twitter reacted:

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