Ice-cool Virat Kohli guides RCB into IPL 2016 playoffs with 6-wicket win over DD
Ice-cool Virat Kohli guides RCB into IPL 2016 playoffs with 6-wicket win over DD
Virat Kohli scored his customary half-century to lead Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) into the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2016 playoffs with 6-wicket win over Delhi Daredevils (DD) in Match 56 at Raipur. Kohli’s unbeaten 54 helped RCB to the No. 2 position on the IPL 9 points table. Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers fell early, but Kohli found an able ally in KL Rahul. The pair of Kohli and Rahul put on a crucial 66 runs for the third wicket before Rahul was dismissed. Rahul’s wicket was fortuitous for DD; he looked to guide Carlos Brathwaite to third man but the ball rolled back onto his stumps after getting an inside edge. Full Cricket Scorecard, Delhi Daredevils vs Royal Challengers Bangalore, IPL 2016, Match 56
Zaheer Khan and Chris Morris brought DD the vital breakthroughs at the start, with Morris getting Gayle to chop one onto his stumps and Zaheer getting de Villiers to mis-hit one to Jayant Yadav at cover. The two RCB juggernauts had scored a mere 7 between them. Luckily for RCB the in-form Rahul ensured that the big guns were not missed. Rahul scored 38 off 23 balls with 4 fours and 1 six, keeping up his excellent run in IPL 9. Full Cricket Blog, Delhi Daredevils vs Royal Challengers Bangalore, IPL 2016, Match 56
The dismissal of Rahul brought in Shane Watson at No. 5. Watson struggled to read Amit Mishra and was nearly dismissed early in his innings going for a big shot down the ground. Jayant, fielding at long on, was not able to hold on to the catch and ended up tipping the ball over the ropes. Watson survived then, but a few balls later holed out to midwicket after trying to slog Pawan Negi for six. Watson was dismissed for 14 from 18 balls, going past 5,000 runs in T20 cricket in the process. READ: Virat Kohli continues to defy reality in IPL 2016
RCB still had Kohli, who was serene as always at the other end. He found another partner in Stuart Binny, coming in to bat at No. 6 ahead of Sachin Baby. Neither batsman took any undue risks, though toward the end of the innings Kohli was beaten by Zaheer Khan, trying and failing to play an expansive cover drive. It was a momentary lapse, and one that did not hamper RCB in the slightest. Binny played a couple of attractive looking shots, and Kohli finished the match with a quick single to guide RCB to the No. 2 position and into the playoffs of IPL 2016. READ: Virat Kohli and the bat of destiny: RCB’s Deathly Hallow in IPL 2016
Earlier, Quinton de Kock scored a valuable 60 but received little support from the middle order as Delhi Daredevils (DD) reached a sub-par 138 for 8 against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in Match 56 of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2016 at Raipur. DD were hampered by the fact that their trio of Indian batsmen floundered. Rishabh Pant, Karun Nair, and Sanju Samson — batting at Nos 2, 3, and 4 respectively — scored a mere 29 runs among them. Even Pawan Negi, promoted up the order, failed to get going and ended up scoring 6 off 12 balls. Yuzvendra Chahal took 3 wickets to gain the Purple Cap.
De Kock started well, getting a spate of early boundaries off Stuart Binny, Chris Jordan, and Sreenath Aravind, but the constant fall of wickets at the other end forced him to play a more circumspect innings. As a result he was unable to continue with the same fluency he displayed at the start of his innings. He was on 26 off 19 at one stage before going into his shell. He eventually got to 50 off 43 balls, but with wickets still falling at the other end he had to bide his time. The pressure finally got to him, and he played a wild slog while batting on 60. The resultant top-edge was caught by Jordan. De Kock finally had to go for a 52-ball 60.
Pant was the first batsman to be dismissed, edging a good short ball from Aravind to wicketkeeper KL Rahul for 1. Karun was the next to go, brilliantly caught off Yuzvendra Chahal by Kohli, running backward to take it cleanly. Samson became Chahal’s second victim when he edged behind to Rahul. Soon Sam Billings followed for 4 off 6 balls, taken brilliantly by a diving Chris Gayle. With the front line batsmen out of the way, the all-rounders needed to step up, but the RCB bowlers were up to the task.
Negi was promoted to No. 6 ahead of Carlos Brathwaite and Chris Morris, but he ended up scratching around for a 12-ball 6. Negi was Gayle’s first victim of the match, and a few balls later Brathwatie became his second. Brathwaite struck one firmly but did not keep it down, which allowed Shane Watson to take a fine catch. Morris tried valiantly to swell DD’s score but even he could only do so much.
Brief scores:
Delhi Daredevils 138 for 8 in 20 overs (Quinton de Kock 60; Yuzvendra Chahal 3 for 32, Chris Gayle 2 for 11) lost to Royal Challengers Bangalore 139 for 4 in 18.1 overs (Virat Kohli 54*; Carlos Brathwaite 1 for 18) by 6 wickets.
Man of the Match: Virat Kohli
(Shiamak Unwalla, reporter with CricketCountry, is an animal lover and comic, film and TV geek. A fast bowler at heart, he enjoys watching a good, low-scoring game of cricket. His Twitter handle is @ShiamakUnwalla)