Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) moved to the top of the points table after they held their nerves to pull off a one-run victory over Delhi Capitals (DC) in Match 22 of the VIVO Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.
AB de Villiers scored a match-winning 75* that powered RCB to a competitive total before the bowlers defended the target in a final-over thriller.
Chasing a challenging total of 171, DC openers – Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan – got off to a flying start, scoring 22 off the first two overs after Shaw, backed by his wonderful timing, smashed three fours off Mohammed Siraj.
Kyle Jamieson came in to bowl the third over of the innings and found success as Dhawan deposited a short delivery straight to Yuzvendra Chahal at third man.
In the very next over, Siraj got rid of Steve Smith after the right-hander nicked one back to the keeper and DC were 43/2 after the end of powerplay as Shaw was joined by the DC skipper, Rishabh Pant.
RCB capitalised on the two early wickets and put pressure on the DC pair with dot balls. Harshal Patel was given the responsibility of bowling the eighth over and he managed to dismiss Shaw, who tried to chase a wide delivery outside off stumps and edged it to de Villiers behind the stumps.
Marcus Stoinis joined Pant in the middle and the Delhi Capitals had a huge task ahead of them. The pair kept rotating the strike but could not find the occasional boundary as DC were struggling at 62/3 at the 10-over mark.
DC started accelerating after the 12th over as Stoinis and Pant smacked two fours each off the bowling of Washington Sundar and Harshal Patel. But, the right-arm seamer bounced back in style with a wicket after Stonis edged one to de Villiers, who took his third catch of the innings.
Shimron Hetmyer was the next man in, and the left-hander was on the attack after smashing a four and six each against Siraj as DC required 61 off the last five overs. Jamieson conceded only 5 runs off his third over and DC were under immense pressure.
But, Hetmyer was striking them big after he clubbed three sixes off the 18th over by Jamieson as DC required 25 off the final two overs. The left-hander reached his half-century off only 23 deliveries.
DC scored 11 in the penultimate over after Pant got a timely four and DC required 14 off the final over.
Siraj bowled the final over and conceded only 4 runs off his first four deliveries. While Pant smashed two fours off the final two deliveries and got to his fifty, DC fell short of a victory by 1 run, requiring 6 off the final delivery.
Brief Scores: Royal Challengers Bangalore 171/5 (AB de Villiers 75*, Rajat Patidar 31; Avesh Khan 1/24 ) beat Delhi Capitals 170-4 (Rishabh Pant 58*, Shimron Hetmyer 53*; Harshal Patel 2/37) by 1 run.
WATCH : Match Highlights