BENGALURU: Royal Challengers Bangalore are known for their star batters but their bowlers too have contributed their bit this season. Their efforts against Mumbai, KKR and LSG might have fetched mixed results but on Saturday, they went one up on their batters to ensure a 23-run victory against a hapless Delhi Capitals.
Defending 174 was always going to be tricky at the M Chinnaswamy stadium here with its short boundaries. But RCB’s allround bowling show was spearheaded well by Karnataka pacer Vijaykumar Vyshak, who bagged three wickets for 20 runs on his IPL debut to restrict the visitors to 151/9 and secure his team’s second win.
This was Delhi’s fifth straight loss. With the bat, Virat Kohli (50; 34b, 6x4, 1x6) provided the early impetus to ensure his bowlers had runs to defend.
The home team flexed its muscles early with ‘impact player’ Anuj Rawat producing an electrifying run out to dismiss Delhi’s ‘impact player’ Prithvi Shaw for a duck in the first over.
From there on, there was no looking back. After Wayne Parnell sent Mitchell Marsh back for a duck, Mohammed Siraj trapped Yash Dhull leg before to reduce them to 2/3.
The decision to bring on Vyshak, who replaced an injured Rajat Patidar in the squad, fetched immediate results as captain David Warner lobbed an easy catch to Kohli at mid-wicket in the sixth over. Once he left, it was always going to be a daunting task for a depleted Delhi side.
They were looking for something magical from local boy Manish Pandey (50; 38b, 5x4, 1x6) and the in-form Axar Patel. The latter threatened for a while with some confident strokeplay, smashing a 14-ball 21, even as Pandey was solid at the other end. But once he fell to Wanindu Hasaranga, the writing was on the wall.
Delhi would have been the happier of the two teams at the break after a good show by their spinners Axar, Lalit Yadav and Kuldeep Yadav.
They cut the run flow after RCB openers Kohli and Faf Du Plessis attacked the pacers early to score in boundaries, especially the former captain, who hit Anrich Nortje for two fours in the first over.
