After Shreyas Iyer and Shikhar Dhawan shone with the bat, bowlers came to the fore to help Delhi beat Bangalore by 16 runs and book their spot in the 2019 Indian Premier League (IPL) playoffs at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in the national capital on Sunday.
Opting to bat first, opener Dhawan (50 off 37 balls) and Iyer (52 off 37 balls) not only notched up half-centuries but also shared a crucial stand of 68 runs to help Delhi post a huge score of 187 for five.
In reply, Kagiso Rabada and Amit Mishra bagged two wickets each, while Ishant Sharma, Axar Patel and Sherfane Rutherford all chipped in with a wicket each to help Delhi restrict Virat Kohli-led Bangalore to a score of 171/7 in their stipulated 20 overs.
Here are the highlights:
# Delhi beat Bangalore by 16 runs!
# Bangalore need 26 off 6 balls!
# Washington Sundar is the new batsman in!
# WICKET! Gurkeerat Singh swung the fourth delivery of the 18th over as hard as he can, but got a thick edge as Pant dove to his right to take an excellent one-hand catch. Bangalore 162/6 (19 overs)
# 26 runs off the last two overs, including two sixes and two boundaries. Gurkeerat Singh (24) and Marcus Stoinis (18) are currently batting at the crease, with Bangalore now need 36 runs off 18 balls. Bangalore 152/5 (17 overs)
# Gurkeerat Singh and Marcus Stoinis are the new batsman in!
# WICKET! Amit Mishra struck twice to remove Klaasen and Dube for three and 24, respectively. While Klaasen was caught by Pant behind the wicket, Dube was caught by Dhawan who ran back from point to take an excellent running catch. Bangalore 111/5 (13 overs)
# Heinrich Klaasen is the new batsman in!
# WICKET! Rutherford has bagged a big wicket of AB de Villiers. The South African batsman (17) fetched the delivery from the Delhi bowler from outside off towards deep midwicket, only for Axar Patel to take his second catch of the match. Bangalore 107/3 (12 overs)
# Shivam Dube is the new batsman in!
# WICKET! Patel bagged a big wicket for Delhi by removing skipper Virat Kohli for 23. The Indian skipper walloped the second delivery fo the eighth over straight to Rutherford in the deep. Bangalore 71/2 (8 overs)
# AB de Villiers is the new batsman in!
# WICKET! Rabada gave a much-needed breakthrough to Delhi by removing Parthiv for 39. The Indian batsman, who was looking good at the crease, was caught by Axar Patel at backward point off the fifth delivery of the sixth over. Bangalore 64/1 (6 overs)
# Bangalore experienced a nervy moment when Kohli narrowly escaped a dismissal when he was batting at nine in the fifth over. The Indian skipper attempted to guide the first delivery towards third man, but got a thick edge as Rishabh Pant dove low to catch the ball. However, the review showed that the fielder caught the ball after it touched the ground. Bangalore 56/0 (5 overs)
# Lamichhane bowled an expensive third over conceding 15 runs before Rabada gave away another 10 runs to Bangalore. Opener Patel and Kohli are currently unbeaten at 35 and nine, respectively as Bangalore now need 143 runs from 16 overs. Bangalore 45/0 (4 overs)
# Sandeep Lamichhane and Kagiso Rabada come into the attack!
# Bangalore are off the decent start, adding 20 runs off the first two over. Patel got off the mark by flicking the third delivery of the first over to mid off for a single, while Kohli too opened his account with one run by guiding the very next delivery to short third man. Bangalore 20/0 (2 overs)
# Virat Kohli and Parthiv Patel have walked down the crease to begin Bangalore's chase. Ishant Sharma to open the attack for Delhi.
# Innings Break!
# Delhi set 188-run target for Bangalore. Delhi 187/5 (20 overs)
# Axar Patel is the new batsman in!
# WICKET! Ingram popped the fifth delivery of the 17th over from Saini straight to Washington Sundar at short fine. Delhi 141/5 (17 overs)
# Sherfane Rutherford is the new batsman in!
# WICKET! Washington Sundar strikes for Bangalore. Iyer tried to launch the third delivery of the 16th over towards deep midwicket, only to see Virat Kohli take a good catch. Iyer departs for 52. Delhi 131/4 (16 overs)
# Colin Ingram is the new batsman in!
# WICKET! Rishabh Pant was caught leg before wicket by Yuzvendra Chahal off the fifth delivery of the 15th over. Delhi 127/3 (15 overs)
# Rishabh Pant is the news batsman in!
# WICKET! Soon after bringing up his half-century, Dhawan (50) was caught by Washington Sundar at short fine off the second delivery of the 13th over from Yujvendra Chahal. Delhi 105/2 (13 overs)
# FIFTY! Shikhar Dhawan has brought up his half-century off just 35 balls.He achieved the feat by deflecting the fifth delivery of the 12th over off the pad to the off side for a single. Delhi 102/1 (12 overs)
# 15 runs off the last two overs. Dhawan (36*) continues to stand strong at the crease while Shreyas Iyer (19 off 14 balls) has also made a positive start to his innings. The Bangalore bowlers, on the other hand, need to break this partnership in order to avoid Delhi post a big total. Delhi 74/1 (8 overs)
# Marcus Stoinis comes into the attack!
# Navdeep Saini comes into the attack!
# Skipper Shreyas Iyer comes to bat in!
# WICKET! Umesh Yadav was brought into the attack and he managed to give the much-needed breakthrough to Bangalore by removing Shaw for 18. Yadav bowled a good length delivery as Shaw tried to make a cut, only to end up edging it straight to Patel behind the wicket. Delhi 41/1 (4 overs)
# Expensive last two overs from Bangalore. While Washington was smashed by Shaw for two back-to-back boundaries in his 10-run second over, Chahal conceded 15 runs to Delhi, including two fours and a maximum. Delhi 30/0 (3 overs)
# Yuzvendra Chahal comes into the attack!
# Five runs off the very first over. Shaw opened his account by turning the second delivery off the back foot to the sweeper at deep square for a single, Dhawan got off the mark by slicing the fourth delivery over cover point for four runs. Delhi 5/0 (1 over)
# Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Raj have walked down the crease to begin Delhi's innings. Umesh Yadav to open the attack for Bangalore.
# Bangalore have made three changes in their Playing XI. Moeen Ali, Tim Southee and Akshdeep Singh are out, while Heinrich Klaasen, Shivam Dube and Gurkeerat Singh are all in. Delhi, on the other hand, have made just one change. Sandeep Lamichhane has been roped in place of Chris Morris out.
# Lineups:
Delhi: Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer (capt), Rishabh Pant (wj), Sherfane Rutherford, Colin Ingram, Axar Patel, Kagiso Rabada, Sandeep Lamichhane, Amit Mishra, Ishant Sharma
Bangalore: Parthiv Patel (wk), Virat Kohli (capt), AB de Villiers, Marcus Stoinis, Heinrich Klaasen, Shivam Dube, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Washington Sundar, Navdeep Saini, Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal
# Delhi win the toss, opt to bat first against Bangalore!
# The toss is all set to take place in a few minutes.
Shreyas Iyer-led Delhi will look to seal their spot in the playoffs of the Indian Premier League (IPL) for the first time in last seven years when they lock horns with Virat Kohli-led Bangalore at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in New Delhi on Sunday.
Delhi, who are currently standing at the third spot in the IPL standings with seven wins from 11 games, will head into the clash on the back of a six-wicket win over Rajasthan at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium.
Iyer's side will now look to continue their winning momentum against Bangalore, knowing that a victory would ensure Delhi reach the cut-off limit of 16 points needed for a play-off berth.
Bangalore, on the other hand, are coming on the back of a three-match winning run against Kolkata, table-toppers Chennai and Punjab.
Despite the victories, the Virat Kohli-led side continue to languish at the bottom of the table with a total of four wins from 11 games.
Though Delhi's performance at home has been woeful, the hosts will look to take inspiration from their five-wicket win over Punjab at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium on April 20.
Meanwhile, the likes of AB de Villiers, Kohli, Moeen Ali and Marcus Stoinis will be keen to capitalise on Delhi's inconsistent record at home.
The two squads are as follows:
Delhi: Shreyas Iyer (capt), Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant, Colin Ingram, Keemo Paul, Axar Patel, Rahul Tewatia, Amit Mishra, Kagiso Rabada, Ishant Sharma, Hanuma Vihari, Ankush Bains, Chris Morris, Sherfane Rutherford, Jalaj Saxena, Sandeep Lamichhane, Trent Boult, Avesh Khan, Nathu Singh, Bandaru Ayyappa, Colin Munro, Manjot Kalra.
Bangalore: Virat Kohli (capt), Parthiv Patel, AB de Villiers, Colin de Grandhomme, Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Moeen Ali, Shimron Hetmyer, Dale Steyn, Shivam Dube, Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Devdutt Padikkal, Himmat Singh, Milind Kumar, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Heinrich Klaasen, Pawan Negi, Washington Sundar, Akshdeep Nath, Prayas Ray Barman, Kulwant Khejroliya, Tim Southee.
(WITH PTI INPUTS)
RR Pant lbw b Chahal 7 (7b 1x4 0x6) SR: 100.00
CA Ingram c Washington Sundar b Saini 11 (7b 1x4 1x6) SR: 157.14
AB de Villiers c Patel b Rutherford 17 (19b 0x4 1x6) SR: 89.47
