We felt the Royal Challengers Bangalore were 20-odd runs short of what they would have needed on this wicket and the momentum they maintained for the most part of their innings. In the end, the Delhi batting line-up was not tested much, partly due to RCB's underperformance at the death and due to Quinton de Kock's scintillating shotmaking.
Watson was a breath of fresh air, featuring in every department: bat, ball and in the field. On which note, do yourself a favour and watch this Christlike miracle one more time:
MUST WATCH - >@ShaneRWatson33 - >@David_Wiese relay catch >#RCBvDD>#VIVOIPL>@RCBTweets>https://t.co/fhGWWHKseA
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) >April 17, 2016
But that moment of brilliance wasn't enough to thwart the Daredevils, who bowled some excellent overs at the death of RCB's innings (courtesy Chris Morris and Mohammad Shami), then maintained scoring momemtum really well despite the early wicket (courtesy Wiese-Watson), and then... de Kock happened.
Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli says this loss is tough to swallow. Underscores how important it is for bowlers to believe they can get a wicket every ball, and that batsmen can sense hesitation on the bowler's part. An interesting insight every time Kohli speaks.
Delhi Daredevils captain Zaheer Khan says his bad over helped him realise that his bowlers must bowl back of length. Hm, great example of self-effacing captaincy. He gives credit to Shami and Morris, but also questions the wisdom of having removed Gayle from the middle with such haste.
Man of the Match Quinton de Kock says it was a good wicket where looking to hit good cricket shots and running the twos got them through. Most of these were done by him, just saying.
DD 192/3 after 19.1 overs (JP Duminy 7 off 5 | K Nayar 54 off 42 || win by 7 wickets)
Some comedy there at the very end with just the one to get. JP Duminy plays it back to the bowler Chahal, who flicks it back to the non-striker's stumps, misses, and the batsmen run the overthrow.
DD 191/3 after 19 overs (JP Duminy 6 off 4 | K Nayar 54 off 42 || need 1 from 6 balls)
De Kock (108 from 51) can't, sadly, stay to bring it home for his team after all the work. Watson has him caught behind off a riser. Duminy comes in and takes up from where his Saffer teammate left off, drilling a short wide one through the Covers for four . A leg bye and a two later, the over ends and DD are left with just 1 to get.
DD 183/2 after 18 overs (de Kock 108 off 50 | K Nayar 53 off 41 || need 9 from 12 balls)
De Kock, de Kock, de Kock! Centurion off 48 balls. Yet again with a sliced square-cut. Applause is sadly very limited for the away batsman despite a genuinely great innings. The crowd goes even quieter when he thick-edges a Wiese slower one through Third-man for four . And then a scorcher that scrapes the floor the whole time through the Covers.
DD 171/2 after 17 overs (de Kock 99 off 47 | K Nayar 51 off 38 || need 21 from 18 balls)
Nayar does get to his milestone first. A classy straight loft for six takes him closer, and he completes the formality with a single. Didn't think he was getting any runs, Nayar. Slowly and silently built his score. Meanwhile, de Kock reaches 99 with a four off the final ball of Harshal's over.
DD 158/2 after 16 overs (de Kock 94 off 45 | K Nayar 43 off 44 || need 34 from 24 balls)
Nayar nudges a four past the keeper to take the partnership past 100 runs. De Kock slashes the same bowler through Extra Cover for four to move into the 90s. Nayar closing in on his fifty. Who will get to their milestone first? Meanwhile, Daredevils looking comfortable to get this total, by all conservative estimates.
DD 146/2 after 15 overs (de Kock 88 off 42 | K Nayar 37 off 31 || need 46 from 30 balls)
Watson comes back in for his third over. Decidedly bowling into the body of the right-hander, towards middle and leg. Still gets struck on the up by the left-hander de Kock down the ground for four .
DD 136/2 after 14 overs (de Kock 81 off 39 | K Nayar 36 off 28 || need 56 from 36 balls)
Nayar strikes the first ball for a lofted cover drive for four . Wiese comes back with yorkers, cutters and slower ones. But de Kock has the last laugh, swatting an awkward six and a controlled four at Square-leg.
DD 116/2 after 13 overs (de Kock 70 off 36 | K Nayar 28 off 24 || need 76 from 42 balls)
De Kock slaps a googly out of the ground for six . But Chahal continues tossing it up and giving lots of width, inviting and goading. He knows that Delhi's is not the strongest of batting line-ups, and de Kock's wicket is at a premium.
DD 105/2 after 12 overs (de Kock 62 off 33 | K Nayar 26 off 21 || need 87 from 48 balls)
Harshal Patel bowls a superb over for just 5 runs. A mixture of pace variations, yorkers and slower bouncers straight out of the coaching manual.
DD 100/2 after 11 overs (de Kock 58 off 28 | K Nayar 25 off 20 || need 92 from 54 balls)
No boundaries in this over from Rasool. Hard to tell if that's because his bowling was really tight or because the batsmen are now coiling back before they strike. Good, decisive running all the same.
DD 93/2 after 10 overs (de Kock 52 off 23 | K Nayar 24 off 19 || need 99 from 60 balls)
Wiese bowled this over well. But went for 12 runs nonetheless. Shows what two boundaries can do to 4 good balls. The first of these came off Nayar's bat and ended up in Deep-midwicket. The second brought de Kock his fifty off just 21 balls . The required run-rate falls just below 10-an-over with the final ten overs to come.
DD 81/2 after 9 overs (de Kock 46 off 20 | K Nayar 18 off 16 || need 111 from 66 balls)
Harshal Patel comes in. Is sent into the rafters by Square-leg by de Kock's revolving pull for six . Ohmyword, Wiese and Watson are at it again. Stopping a Nayar boundary this time at Long-leg together. Someone get them a room already. But Nayar insists he will get that four , and knocks one over the keeper's head
DD 67/2 after 8 overs (de Kock 39 off 18 | K Nayar 11 off 12 || need 125 from 72 balls)
Wiese is bowling an amazing over here. First five balls, just one run has been scored. Watson's aura really rubbed off on Wiese during that catch. Oh Nayar! He goes and spoils the whole thing by skipping down the track and shooting it through Cover for a liberating four .
DD 62/2 after 7 overs (de Kock 39 off 18 | K Nayar 7 off 6 || need 130 from 78 balls)
Chahal into the attack now. Karun Nayar welcomes him with a caressed reverse-sweep for four . Then de Kock cracks him for YET ANOTHER four past Point.
4 dots and a wicket Why would you >@ShaneRWatson33 even retire After 6 overs >#DD 51/2 >#RCBvDD>#IPL
— Circle of Cricket (@circleofcricket) >April 17, 2016
DD 51/2 after 6 overs (de Kock 34 off 16 | K Nayar 1 off 2 || need 141 from 84 balls)
Samson has struggled enough, decrees the God of Cricket. He is put out of his misery as he lobs a weak pull straight into Yuzvendra Chahal's hands at Short-midwicket.
DD 50/1 after 5 overs (de Kock 34 off 16 | S Samson 9 off 10 || need 142 from 90 balls)
De Kock surgically penetrates Backward Point once again, slashing Rasool for four off the first ball of the over. Then some good fielding keeps Samson on strike for most of the over, though the batsmen run some good twos.
DD 42/1 after 4 overs (de Kock 29 off 13 | S Samson 6 off 7 || need 150 from 96 balls)
Shane Watson, the man with the golden eyes, comes into the attack. And de Kock beats a diving Point fielder once again for another four . Watson, though, is bowling tightly, varying his pace, and limits the damage to 9 runs.
DD 33/1 after 3 overs (de Kock 24 off 10 | S Samson 3 off 4 || need 159 from 102 balls)
De Kock continues to slash and cut like he's a Game of Thrones character with a longsword. Beats two fielders with one shot for four through Point.
DD 24/1 after 2 overs (de Kock 17 off 6 | S Samson 1 off 2 || need 168 from 108 balls)
Pervez Rasool getting the stick from de Kock here. A shortish ball gets hammered through Cover for four . A full flighted one gets hammered through Cover for four . A shortish wide-ish one gets hammered through Point for four .
MUST WATCH - >@ShaneRWatson33 - >@David_Wiese relay catch >#RCBvDD>#VIVOIPL>@RCBTweets>https://t.co/fhGWWHKseA
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) >April 17, 2016
DD 11/1 after 1 over (de Kock 5 off 2 | S Samson 0 off 0 || need 181 from 114 balls)
Unnatural effort in the field. Historical moment. Here's what happened: Shreyas Iyer lobs straight over Long-on, with Shane Watson in hot pursuit, the ball emerging from the back of his head with every step, as he sprints straight towards the boundary rope. Using his third eye, Watson keeps track of the ball, with two hands he pouches the ball, and with his other two eyes, he notes how quickly the boundary rope is approaching. So, he tosses the ball behind him in desperation. Wiese comes out of nowhere, leaps into the air, and snatches a one-hander two inches from the rope, and lies sprawled like an infant. A childlike dazed look on his face.
Oh well, Shreyas (0 from 4) can at least take consolation from the fact that it took two remarkable catches to get rid of him.
An eternity ago, De Kock had struck the first ball for four through Point. Srinath Aravind, rattled, bowled the next one Waaaaayyyy wide down the legside for 5 wides .
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Delhi Daredevils did really well at the end to drag Royal Challengers Bangalore's score down to uner 200. At one stage, when AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli were toying with the bowling, and even later when Shane Watson joined in, it looked like 220 might be an easy reach for RCB. But courtesy some canny bowling from Chris Morris and Mohammad Shami in the last few overs, DD batsmen now have 192 to win on a wicket that looks nowhere as easy to bat on as it did just a while before. Good luck, Delhi.
A team playing against Carlos Brathwaite is never safe with a total of '191'. >#RCBvDD>#indvwi>#WT20
— Yash chamaria (@Chamariayash) >April 17, 2016
RCB 191/5 after 20 overs (D Wiese 5 off 4 | K Jadhav 9 off 11)
Morris is hitting his straps at the death. Slower delivery can't be hit at this stage; then slips in three straight yorkers to cramp up Wiese and Jadhav; a short slow one once again. The last ball goes awry, and Jadhav slices a full-toss over Extra Cover for four .
RCB 183/5 after 19 overs (D Wiese 3 off 2 | K Jadhav 3 off 7)
Oh dear. Kohli (79 from 48) looks to up the ante after the stifling previous over, and promptly gets caught out near the straight boundary.
Shami has bowled an awesome over here to follow Morris's up. What's going on? Jadhav hooks one, thinks he has a boundary, and forgets to run the second. Shaking his head now. But they make the lost run back off an overthrow on the last ball.
DD have done really well here at the death, pegging RCB back quite some after they were looking to get 200 when Watson and Kohli were at it.
RCB 177/4 after 18 overs (V Kohli 79 off 47 | K Jadhav 2 off 4)
Some athletic running between the wickets from Kohli and young Kedar. But Morris has bowled a tight and pacey over for just 4 runs.
RCB 173/4 after 17 overs (V Kohli 76 off 44 | K Jadhav 1 off 1)
Shami strikes in his comeback spell. Lets Watson edge him for six and then gets Watson (33 from 19) to balloon a catch to Short Fine-leg. Then Sarfaraz Khan comes in, seeing the ball like a giant ping-pong ball. A single rockets off his bat. Next, Shami swoops into action in the last ball and runs Sarfaraz (1 from 2) out on his follow-through.
RCB 164/2 after 16 overs (V Kohli 75 off 43 | S Watson 27 off 17)
Watson continues on his merry way, sweeping Zaheer for six . And Kolhi is splitting the field like the Joker splits his personality. How he bissected the two fielders at Long-on and Midwicket with this crushing on-drive for four , only he would know. Oh, and he got another six over Long-on and an ungainly four through Cover.
RCB 143/2 after 15 overs (V Kohli 61 off 40 | S Watson 20 off 14)
Now Kohli is turning it on from the other end. Gets into a graceful position to loft Mishra over extra cover for six . And then swats him for four through Third-man with a reverse-sweep/slap.
RCB 130/2 after 14 overs (V Kohli 50 off 37 | S Watson 18 off 11)
Watson now comes to the party. If you thought Maxwell's six earlier today in Mohali was flat, try this one on for size; Watson absolutely bludgeons Brathwaite straight past him, and the ball smashes into the sightscreen for six . Now, Watson slaps it through mid-wicket for four . Now, he goes on the onside again for another four . But Brathwaite keeps his wits about him and confounds a stretching Watson with an out-of-reach last ball.
RCB 114/2 after 13 overs (V Kohli 50 off 36 | S Watson 3 off 6)
Kohli gets his fifty. Can't remember the last time he raised his bat to acknowledge applause for a half-century. Just holds up a hand as if to say, stop applauding, guys, you've seen this so many times and I've gotta keep going .
RCB 109/2 after 12 overs (V Kohli 47 off 33 | S Watson 1 off 3)
Carlos Brathwaite, the hero of the T20 World Cup for the West Indies, strikes here with his second ball. And it's the big fish (well, the bigger-hitting one), ABD himself. Something in the length ball makes ABD (55 from 32) mistime a hoick and he is caught by Zaheer at the Long-on boundary. 6666 done and dusted. Dangerous partnership broken. What next, Brathwaite?
RCB 106/1 after 11 overs (V Kohli 45 off 31 | AB de Villiers 55 off 32)
Kohli is dancing again, but not to Negi's tune. After a relatively quiet first four balls, the RCB captain steps out and lofts one on the up into the stands.
BREAKING: >#RCB Cheerleaders Admitted To Hospital. ;) >#KXIPvRPS>#RPSvKXIP>#IPL9>#RCBvDD>#DDvsRCB
— Sir Ravindra Jadeja (@SirJadeja) >April 17, 2016
RCB 97/1 after 10 overs (V Kohli 37 off 28 | AB de Villiers 54 off 29)
Mishra giving some width here, but no big shots. He got away with a couple for sure.
RCB 86/1 after 9 overs (V Kohli 35 off 26 | AB de Villiers 50 off 25)
Negi getting through his over quite swiftly. ABD despatched him to the Cover boundary for four just even quicker. The crowd in the stadium erupts as their brother-from-an-Afrikaaner-mother reaches his fifty.
RCB 79/1 after 8 overs (V Kohli 33 off 24 | AB de Villiers 44 off 21)
And as Mishra comes in, Kohli's hands and feet start dancing. Some nifty wristwork there to negotiate the first ball, then jogs down the pitch to drive straight for four with what they call panache, and looks in control throughout the over.
RCB 72/1 after 7 overs (V Kohli 27 off 19 | AB de Villiers 43 off 20)
And Zaheer takes himself off, takes some pace off, and brings spin in the form of Pawan Negi. Who gets promptly despatched by de Villiers for four through midwicket. That was quite the half-tracker. He is getting some turn otherwise, though, when he pitches it up and lets the wicket do something.
RCB 63/1 after 6 overs (V Kohli 24 off 16 | AB de Villiers 37 off 17)
Morris is bowling quick. Therefore, ABD taps into his kung-fu, and decides to use his opponent's weapon against him. Touches a short ball to send it racing into the advertising boards beyond Fine-leg for four . As Kohli runs like a hare, ABD essays elegance by driving Morris straight for another four . Now that Powerplay is done, will these two revise their smashing strategy, or no?
RCB 50/1 after 5 overs (V Kohli 20 off 13 | AB de Villiers 29 off 14)
And they've forced Zaheer Khan to change his line. So very sad, Zaheer is beautiful to watch when he's crafting early swing. Now, that's gone, as he shifts to bowl around the wicket. Kohli cuts him fine. ABD pulls a four , thwacks a full-toss on the off-side for another four and then unfurls to help a short one over Gully's head for a third four . Fifty partnership in superquick time for Kohli and ABD. Who even cares about Gayle at this point?
RCB 35/1 after 4 overs (V Kohli 18 off 11 | AB de Villiers 16 off 10)
Mohammad Shami comes into the attack after ages of cricketing and IPL hibernation. If nothing else, he has definitely visited the barber during this period, as indicate the cornrow rakes adoring the sides of his head. Haircut or not, his radar needs adjustment. Kohli gets gifted a half-tracker outside his legs, and he whips disdainfully through Fine-leg for a four . And then, he drives one elegantly through Cover for another four . Now, ABD wants in on all the disdain going around, and whips a short ball over Long-on for six .
RCB 19/1 after 3 overs (V Kohli 9 off 7 | AB de Villiers 9 off 7)
Kohli can handle Zaheer's pace quite easy, as he rocks back to slightly mistime a pull a towards Mid-wicket. Zaheer doesn't look as threatening as Morris, but you just know he's going to bowl effectively. Good start, this, for Delhi Daredevils, all in all.
RCB 13/1 after 2 overs (V Kohli 5 off 4 | AB de Villiers 8 off 5)
Kohli doesn't like being left out of the action. Slices Chris Morris over Point first ball for four , and gets his blood flowing. But Morris is getting some bounce and raking up quite some pace here. A couple of these deliveries had to have been close to 150kph. De Villiers and Kohli retract their claws for the rest of the over.
RCB 8/1 after 1 over (V Kohli 0 off 0 | AB de Villiers 8 off 3)
Zaheer has packed his leg side field for Gayle, but left a slip and gully for... yes — just that kind of banana outswinger he loves bowling to left-handers at the start of an innings. And there Zaheer goes! Gayle (0 from 3) falls for the trap hook, line and sinker. Defends the first ball inside the line, leaves the second, and edges the third, as per schedule, to a diving JP Duminy at First Slip. And yet another duck for the big man.
But AB de Villiers loves the ball swinging into him, and unleashes a couple of magnificent drives — one over Backward Point's head, and the next through Cover — for two fours . RCB will not miss Gayle much if this is what ABD is here to do today.
____________________________
2000 hrs | Attitude spill in the Chinnaswamy stadium as Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli walk — nay, stride — out on to the field.
1930 hrs | Delhi Daredevils wins the toss and elects to bowl first. Zaheer Khan trusts the second innings wicket. But is wary of his counterpart Virat Kohli's chasing brilliance. Mohammad Shami in for Jayant Yadav for DD.
Kohli says RCB is playing David Weise instead of Adam Milne and S. Aravind in place of Stuart Binny. The Virat is quite happy to be out there, if wide grins are any sign of happiness.
_____________________________
Royal Challengers Bangalore looks like this today:
CH Gayle, V Kohli*, AB de Villiers, SR Watson, SN Khan, KM Jadhav†, Parvez Rasool, D Wiese, HV Patel, YS Chahal, S Aravind
Delhi Daredevils are playing:
Q de Kock†, SS Iyer, SV Samson, KK Nair, JP Duminy, CR Brathwaite, CH Morris, P Negi, Z Khan*, A Mishra, Mohammed Shami
