Bengaluru, April 18 A disciplined death-overs bowling masterclass by Delhi Capitals ensured Royal Challengers Bengaluru were restricted to a competitive but seemingly under-par 175/8 in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 encounter at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday.
Despite a blistering 63 off 38 balls from opener Phil Salt, laced with four boundaries and three sixes, RCB's innings stalled significantly in the second half as DC's bowlers conceded only eight runs in the final two overs while picking up two wickets. In all, DC conceded only 29 runs in the last five overs, while picking four wickets, with Lungi Ngidi, T. Natarajan, and Mukesh Kumar bowling sensational spells on a slow pitch.
Pushed into batting first, RCB had a brisk start. Salt looked dangerous from the get-go by carving Auqib Nabi Dar for a boundary in the very first over. Virat Kohli (19) joined the act with a signature aerial drive over mid-off against Mukesh Kumar, but his stay was cut short by Ngidi, as he mistimed a scrambled seam delivery to deep cover.
Salt continued his onslaught to reach his second fifty of the season with a massive six over long-off against Kuldeep Yadav in the ninth over. But the introduction of spin turned the tide in DC’s favour. Axar Patel had Devdutt Padikkal holing out to long-on, while Kuldeep Yadav delivered a body blow in the 11th over when he had Salt flat-batting to long-off, and Mukesh doubled it by having in-form Rajat Patidar edge behind to KL Rahul.
Tim David provided a brief spark in RCB’s innings by smashing 26 off 17 balls, including a flat-batted six off Ngidi that brought up his 1000th IPL run. But Axar struck again by dismissing David, whose leading edge was caught by the short third man, while Romario Shepherd was trapped lbw by Kuldeep as RCB went from 110/3 to 149/6.
The final two overs saw DC’s pacers assert total dominance. Natarajan was exceptional in the 19th over, firing in pinpoint yorkers and slower bouncers to concede just two runs.
The 20th over summed up RCB’s frustrations - Krunal Pandya was run out after a miscommunication on a wide delivery, while Jitesh Sharma holed out to long-off against an accurate slower cutter from Ngidi. DC may be primed to complete the chase, but with the pitch not easy to bat on, and RCB having a strong bowling lineup, they have their task cut out.
Brief scores:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru 175/8 in 20 overs (Phil Salt 63, Tim David 26; Axar Patel 2-18, Kuldeep Yadav 2-32) against Delhi Capitals
--IANS
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor