RCB beats DC as MI fails to reach play-offs

KATHMANDU, October 9: KS Bharat held his nerve and cranked a last-ball six as Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) edged out Delhi Capitals (DC) in Match 56 of the VIVO Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 in Dubai on Friday.

Needing 165 runs to win, RCB rode on KS Bharat’s 78* off 52 and Glenn Maxwell’s 33-ball 51* and sealed a seven-wicket win in the final league-stage encounter.

RCB did not enjoy a great start as Anrich Nortje got Devdutt Padikkal out in the first over and then followed it up with a big wicket of Virat Kohli in the third over, reducing RCB to 6/2.

RCB needed a rebuilding job and that’s what KS Bharat and AB de Villiers did. The two added a solid 49-run stand to push RCB past fifty. However, Axar Patel dismissed AB de Villiers in the 10th over for 26.

Maxwell then joined Bharat in the middle and the pair kept the scorecard ticking. While DC had a few chances to dismiss Maxwell, they could not make the most of those opportunities and Maxwell cashed in.

The right-hander got two reprieves in the 14th over, which also saw him hit two fours before he and Bharat completed a vital fifty-run stand, helping RCB cross the three figures in the 15th over.

In the next over, the RCB wicketkeeper-batsman brought up his maiden IPL fifty. The pair continued its good work with the bat as RCB moved to 146/3 after 18 overs, needing 19 runs from the final two overs to seal a win.

Nortje then bowled a brilliant 4-run penultimate over, meaning RCB had to score 15 runs in the final over.

Maxwell hit six runs off the first ball of the last over – bowled by Avesh Khan – and in that process brought up his sixth fifty of the season. However, RCB could only 3 runs off the next 3 legitimate deliveries.

With RCB needing 6 runs off the last legitimate delivery, Avesh bowled a wide ball. KS Bharat then kept his calm and dispatched a six off the final over and helped RCB seal a stunning win in Dubai.

Earlier, unchanged RCB elected to bowl against DC, who also retained the same playing XI which took the field in the last game.

DC made a solid start, courtesy the opening pair of Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw. The two cashed in on every scoring opportunity as DC posted 55 runs on the board in the power play.

The duo added 33 runs in the next four overs and took DC to 88/0 at the halfway stage of their innings.

However, RCB broke the partnership as Harshal Patel dismissed Dhawan for 43 in the 11th over. Yuzvendra Chahal and Dan Christian struck in the next two overs. While Chahal got Shaw out for 48, Christian had the better of Rishabh Pant.

Shreyas Iyer and Shimron Hetmyer then helped DC cross the 140-run mark before the right-hander got out for 18 off Mohammed Siraj in the 18th over. Hetmyer, meanwhile, scored a brisk 29 off 22 balls as DC posted 164/5 on the board.

Mumbai Indians (MI) ended their VIVO Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 campaign on a high as they beat Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by 42 runs in Match 55 in Abu Dhabi on the same day.

Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav hammered 84 and 82 respectively and set up MI’s win.

Chasing 236, SRH were quick off the blocks as the opening pair of Jason Roy and Abhishek Sharma put up a 64-run stand. However, MI managed to strike in the powerplay as Trent Boult dismissed Roy for 34.

SRH lost three more wickets for 36 runs as Jimmy Neesham and Piyush Chawala shared the spoils, dismissing Abhishek, Mohammad Nabi and Abdul Samad.

Priyam Garg and Manish Pandey, who was captaining the side in absence of Kane Williamson, then added 56 runs together before Garg got out. While Manish, who had to bat through the cramps, scored a fine half-century on captaincy debut, MI restricted SRH to 193/8.

Earlier, MI, who needed at least a 171-run win to qualify for the playoffs, came out all guns blazing with the bat as Ishan Kishan tonked a six on the second ball of the innings and then creamed four fours in the second over bowled by Siddarth Kaul.

The left-hander continued to tonk the ball all around the park and went on to complete the fastest fifty of the VIVO IPL 2021 as he raced past fifty in 16 balls. While MI lost Rohit in the final over of the powerplay – courtesy an excellent catch from Mohammad Nabi off Rashid Khan, the team zoomed towards 83, courtesy Ishan’s onslaught.  

Ishan and Hardik Pandya, who had replaced Rohit in the middle, hit a six each in the eighth over as MI moved to 112/1.

But SRH pulled things back a bit as Jason Holder and Umran Malik dismissed Hardik and Ishan, who hammered 84 off 32 balls, in the 9th and 10th over respectively. Three overs later, Abhishek Sharma, in his double-wicket over, got Kieron Pollard and Jimmy Neesham out.

From thereon, it was all a Suryakumar show. The stylish right-hander, mixed innovation with power-hitting and scored 13 fours and 3 sixes to hammer 82 off 40 balls to power MI to 235/9.