That the catches were shelled by exceptional fielders–stumper Abhishek Porel, stand-in skipper Axar Patel, Shai Hope and Tristan Stubbs–made it even more difficult to digest
Rajat Patidar en route his 52. Pic/AFP
In their last outing against Punjab Kings, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) hit it lucky when Virat Kohli and Rajat Patidar were dropped before they had scored. Both went on to make half-centuries in Dharamsala, muscling RCB to a 60-run drubbing of Punjab Kings.
RCB’s luck with dropped catches spilled over to Sunday night as well at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. In a bizarre 11-ball period, Delhi Capitals put down four catches, reprieving Patidar on 42 and 47 and Will Jacks on 19 and 24. That the catches were shelled by exceptional fielders–stumper Abhishek Porel, stand-in skipper Axar Patel, Shai Hope and Tristan Stubbs–made it even more difficult to digest.
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But despite the munificence of the opposition, RCB didn’t exactly put the contest to bed in a must-win encounter, finishing on 187 for nine when they ran out of overs. Having looked good for a total well in excess of 200 after reaching 110 for two at the halfway stage, the hosts were pegged back by excellent bowling at the death by Khaleel Ahmed, the impressive Rasikh Salam and Mukesh Kumar.
At the time of going to press, DC were 81-4 in nine overs.
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Faf du Plessis fell early and Virat Kohli’s dismissal after a blazing cameo left the crowd disappointed once Axar put RCB in, but Patidar and Jacks lifted the spirits with an entertaining if chancy 88-run alliance for the third wicket. Patidar perished not long after bringing up his fifth 50-plus score this season to a smart catch, finally, at cover by Axar and when Jacks was dismissed by the otherwise luckless Kuldeep–off whose bowling two catches went down–RCB were in a spot.
Cameron Green shored up the innings from then on, but DC came charging back into the contest even though the Aussie and Mahipal Lomror took 22 off Kuldeep’s final over. Even so, 188 won’t be straightforward in a needle clash, especially with Rishabh Pant suspended.
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