Royal Challengers Bangalore Finishes The League Stage With A Win Over Delhi Capitals

Indian Premier League 2021: Royal Challengers Bangalore Finishes The League Stage With A Win Over Delhi Capitals!

The last day of the league stage was played yesterday. Two matches were played simultaneously in different stadiums. In match 1, Royal Challengers Bangalore was taking on Delhi Capitals. In match 2, Mumbai Indians were against Sunrisers Hyderabad. 

Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers beat the table-toppers Delhi Capitals by 7 wickets and finished the league stage on a positive node. Though RCB failed to make it to the top two they have already qualified for the playoff stage. Thanks to fine innings from Srikar Bharat and Glenn Maxwell who made a tough chase easier in the end. The match was played in Dubai International Stadium.

Before that Virat Kohli won the toss and asked Delhi Capitals to bat first. The opening pair of Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan started with a bang. The two added 88 runs for the 1st wicket in just 10 overs. Purple cap holder Harshal Patel finally got the wicket of Shikhar Dhawan who was looking dangerous. Dhawan made 43 runs on 35 balls with 3 fours and 2 sixes. 

In the next over, Yuzvendra Chahal sent Prithvi Shaw back to the dugout. The young blaster missed his half-century but played a fine knock of 48 runs on just 31 balls with 4 fours and 2 sixes. The man who got out was Rishabh Pant. The poor form of the wicket-keeper batsman is troubling Delhi Capitals as well as the Indian team ahead of the World Cup. Dan Christian took his wicket. 

Shreyas Iyer and Shimron Hetmyer added some runs. Iyer mishit the ball from Mohammad Siraj and got out. At this stage, DC was 143 for 4. The West Indian striker Hetmyer played some flying shots and took Delhi to a decent score of 164 in 20 overs. He made 29 runs on 22 balls with 2 fours and 2 sixes. 

From RCB, Moh. Siraj got 2 wickets. Yuzvendra Chahal, Christian, and Patel got 1-1 wickets each. George Garton went wicketless but he was economical with the ball. In response, RCB didn’t start well. Paceman Anrich Nortje sent both the openers back to the pavilion cheaply. 

In the first over, he got the wicket of Devdutt Padikkal and in his second over, he scappled the wicket of big fish skipper Virat. At the end of 3rd over, RCB was 8 for 2. Then Ab de Villiers and Srikar Bharat added few runs and made a partnership of 49 runs for the third wicket. 

RCB got shocked when Axar Patel removed Ab de Villiers at a team score of 55. RCB still needed 110 runs and they had already lost 3 wickets. New man Glenn Maxwell joined Srikar Bharat at the crease. They both took struggling RCB to the chase line together. Srikar Bharat played his best knock in his career. 

The right-hand wicket-keeper batsman scored unbeaten 78 runs with 3 fours and 4 sixes. On the other hand, in-form all-rounder Glenn Maxwell showed his class again. The right-hand batsman made 51 runs on 33 balls with 8 fours. Both made an unbeaten partnership of 111 runs for the 4th wicket. 

From Delhi Capitals, Anrich Nortje took 2 wickets, and Axar Patel got 1. Srikar Bharat for his fine innings was adjusted the man of the match award. With this win, RCB finished the league stage with 18 points through 9 wins and 5 losses. Since the run rate of CSK is better thus RCB is placed in the third spot despite having the same points. 

Brave Mumbai Indians Lose Even After Winning The Match!

Even after beating Sunrisers Hyderabad by 42 runs, Mumbai Indians didn’t feel good as they lost the chance to make it to the playoffs. They needed to defeat SRH by at least 170 runs but it was nearly impossible. 

Mumbai Indians made a huge total of 235 runs. Thanks to Ishan Kishan who registered joint-fastest fifty with Suresh Raina as he made 84 runs on just 35 deliveries. He smashed 11 fours and 4 sixes. Surya Kumar Yadav also made 82 runs on 40 balls with 13 fours and 3 sixes. 

In response, Sunrisers who weren’t playing with their regular Skipper Kane Williamson could only make 192 runs. Stand-in captain Manish Pandey made 69 runs but it wasn’t enough.

With this loss, defending champion Mumbai failed to reach the playoffs. KKR becomes the 4th team to make it to the playoffs.

Though there are two positives that Ishan Kishan and Surya Kumar Yadav are back in form before the T-20 World Cup.