Delhi became the second team to qualify to the playoffs. They have won against Royal Challengers Bangalore by six wickets and secured a playoff berth. As Delhi failed to score the target with 15 balls to spare, even RCB qualified to the playoffs despite losing the match. Shikhar Dhawan (54) and Ajinkya Rahane (60) helped Delhi in scoring a target of 153. Either SRH or KKR will play against RCB in the eliminator and MI will take on DC in the qualifier 1 of the playoffs.
Delhi’s skipper Shreyas Iyer chose to bowl after winning the toss. Delhi managed to get the wicket of opener Josh Philippe in the fifth over. Later, Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal made a partnership of 57 runs for the second wicket. In the 13th over, Kohli got out. In the 16th over, Anrich Nortje dismissed both Devdutt Padikkal and Chris Morris. Then, de Villiers tried to give a big score for RCB but he got run-out in the last over. By the end of 20 overs, RCB managed to score 152/7. Nortje scalped three crucial wickets of Bangalore.
RCB got a good start while defending this modest total by dismissing Delhi’s opener Prithvi Shaw in the second over itself. Later, Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane played well for Delhi. They made a partnership of 88 runs for the second shots. They played classic cricketing shots which were a treat to watch. In the process, Dhawan also completed his half-century. Finally, Shahbaz Ahmed broke this partnership by dismissing Dhawan. The very same bowler got the wicket of Shreyas Iyer in the 17th over. By that time, Delhi’s win was certain. Rahane also scored a fifty and got out in the 18th over. After that, Marcus Stoinis and Rishab Pant have ended the formalities by scoring 154/4 in 19 overs.
Scorecard:
Royal Challengers Bangalore: 152/7 (D Padikkal 50, AB de Villiers 35, A Nortje 3/33)
Delhi Capitals: 154/4 (A Rahane 60, S Dhawan 54, Shahbaz Ahmed 2/26)