IPL 2021: RCB beat Delhi by one run in thriller

Dubai - AB de Villiers played a stunning knock for RCB

It took a special innings from AB de Villiers and a brilliant last over from Mohammed Siraj for the Royal Challengers Bangalore to overcome the Delhi Capitals’ challenge in their Indian Premier League (IPL) encounter on Tuesday.

In the end, the two teams were separated by the narrowest of margins as the RCB won the engrossing battle by one run to go top of the points table with 10 points.

Needing 14 to win from the final six balls, the brilliant Shimron Hetmyer (53 not out, 25 balls, 2 fours and 4 sixes) had no answer to Siraj’s deadly accuracy.

Captain Rishabh Pant (58 not out, 48 balls, 6 fours) did find the boundary in the final two balls, but Siraj did just enough to drag his team over the line.

Chasing 172, Delhi were in big trouble when they lost their fourth wicket at 92 in the 13th over.

But Pant found a fearless partner in Hetmyer and the destructive West Indian left-hander brought the Capitals back into the game with his brutal shot-making, taking 20 runs in the 18th over bowled by Kyle Jamieson (1/32).

But Harshal Patel (2/37) and Siraj (1/44) held their nerve in the final two overs as the RCB bounced back from the demoralising defeat against the Chennai Super Kings.

“Feeling disappointed. I think they were 10-15 runs extra on this wicket but Hetty played a brilliant innings, because of him we got close,” Pant admitted after the match.

Kohli, on the other hand, doffed his hat to Siraj for the brilliant last over.

“At one stage I did feel it was getting away. But the way Siraj started the last over gave us confidence. He finished clinically in the end,” the RCB captain said.

Earlier, the RCB once again had De Villiers (75 not out, 42 balls, 3 fours, 5 sixes) to thank for the team’s late flourish in the batting department as the team posted a competitive total of 171 for five.

After being put into bat, Bangalore were struggling for rhythm. Captain Kohli (12, 11 balls) and young opener Devdutt Padikkal (17, 14 balls) perished early to Avesh Khan and Ishant Sharma respectively.

Glenn Maxwell (25, 20 balls, 1 four, 2 sixes) and Rajat Patidar (31, 22 balls, 2 sixes) were beginning to bring the RCB back into the game when the Australian fell to the leg-spin of Amit Mishra (1/27) while going for the third six of his innings.

Patidar, the 27-year-old right-hander playing his third match of the season, showed impressive touch as he shared 54 runs in 38 balls for the fifth wicket with De Villiers.

Playing the first match of the season at Ahmedabad, De Villiers, the South African maestro, waited before unleashing his range of stupendous shots.

It was because of De Villiers’ extraordinary late assault that the RCB scored 47 runs in their last four overs, with the wicket-keeper batsman making 40 of those runs.

And 22 of those 40 runs came from the bat of De Villiers in the final over of the innings bowled by Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis, with the batsman hitting three massive sixes.

“A lot of credit goes to this guy (De Villiers) behind me,” said Kohli.

“He hasn't played competitive cricket in five months but he keeps doing this.”

• IPL 2024