Delhi Capitals needed a victory to retain even a semblance of a chance to progress to the business end of IPL 2023, and on Saturday they came up with a blockbuster batting effort against Royal Challengers Bangalore on their home turf to achieve that short-term goal.
By no means the target of 182 was easy to overhaul but Phil Salt (87 off 45 balls) churned out a powerful innings to lead Capitals’ chase and their eventual 7-wicket victory.
An important cog in RCB’s run in this edition of the IPL is the effectiveness of Mohammed Siraj in the Power Play segment.
The pacer has managed to pick up wickets in the aforementioned passage regularly without leaking too many runs, and he also holds the record of most number of dot balls in this particular phase this year.
Phil rubs Salt on RCB's wounds
But Capitals bucked the trend this night. DC captain David Warner and his opening partner Salt amassed 60 runs in just 5.1 overs to blunt RCB’s hopes of making early inroads. Siraj leaked 28 runs in just two overs and he also failed to pick up a wicket, a rarity this season of the IPL.
The partnership handed the Capitals an early advantage, chiseling away the size of target and it also ensured the required run rate would not bloat over. Salt continued his aggressive methods even after the dismissal of Warner and the RCB spinners — Karn Sharma and Wanindu Hasaranga — were guilty of pitching the ball way too short.
On that rare occasion when they pitched the ball up, there was some turn for them to exploit. Salt’s dismissal by Karn will offer an example as grip and that hint of spin beat the prod of Englishman. But by then the match had sailed beyond the grasp of RCB.
RCB struggle to contain DC batters
But the Bangalore outfit had their own little moments in the match. As usual, Faf Du Plessis (45) and Virat Kohli (55) gave them a bright and solid start — 82 off 10.3 overs.
Mahipal Lomror notched up a handy fifty (54 off 29 balls) that guided the Royal Challengers in the latter part of their innings. However, there was this general feeling of discontent that RCB could not maximise that fine opening alliance and reach a far bigger total.
It was a competitive total nevertheless. But on this night, it was not enough to prevent the Capitals from registering their 4th win in their last five matches.
