Delhi Capitals’ (DC) captain Axar Patel admitted that his side was short by at least 10-15 runs after they suffered a six-wicket defeat to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the national capital. Speaking after the match on Sunday, Axar said, “I feel like we were 10-15 runs short. Our intent was there, but the wicket was hard to bat on it was two-paced and became better once the dew came on,” as quoted from ESPNCricinfo. Despite showing aggression early on, Delhi kept losing wickets at crucial moments. Axar felt that a more significant contribution from one batter staying till the end could have made the difference.

“We tried to accelerate but kept losing wickets, so maybe if one batter batted along, it might have been better,” he explained.

Explaining the decision to push KL Rahul up the order, Axar added, “I think KL is batting well, so he batted at No. 4 because he can finish games too.”

The defeat leaves Delhi Capitals needing to regroup quickly as the race for the playoffs tightens, while RCB strengthened their position at the top of the points table with the win.

Coming to the match, chasing a target of 163, RCB endured a shaky start, losing three wickets for just 26 runs. Debutant Jacob Bethell managed 12 runs before falling, while Devdutt Padikkal was dismissed for a duck. Captain Rajat Patidar’s run-out for 6 left the side in trouble at 26/3.

However, a crucial 119-run partnership between Virat Kohli and Krunal Pandya steadied the innings. Kohli played a composed knock of 51 off 47 balls, hitting four boundaries, while Pandya was the star of the night, remaining unbeaten on 73 from 47 deliveries, with five fours and four sixes.

The pair ensured RCB reached 100 in 13.3 overs and kept the required run rate in check.

After Kohli’s dismissal at the hands of Dushmantha Chameera in the 17.5 overs, Tim David joined Pandya and played a cameo, scoring 19 runs off just five balls to seal the victory. RCB reached the target in 18.3 overs.

Earlier in the match, DC captain Axar Patel was the standout performer with the ball, finishing with impressive figures of 2/19 from his four overs. Despite his efforts, Delhi couldn’t stop RCB’s momentum. RCB, now sitting at the top of the standings, will look to maintain their winning form as the tournament heads towards the playoffs.

A brilliant bowling performance from Royal Challengers Bengaluru bowlers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood restricted the Delhi Capitals franchise to 162/8 in their 20 overs at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Sunday. RCB skipper Rajat Patidar won the toss and elected to bowl first in the away fixture of the ongoing 18th edition of the cash-rich league.

Batters Faf du Plessis and Abhishek Porel came out to bat in the middle to open the innings. Both players put on a stand of 33 runs off 22 balls before Porel (28 runs from 11 balls) was sent back to the pavilion on the bowling of right-arm seamer Josh Hazelwood in the fourth over of their innings.

Following Porel’s departure, right-hand batter Karun Nair (4) came out in the middle to bat, but he was sent back to the dressing in the fifth over by left-arm seamer Yash Dayal when the team score was 44.

The Capitals touched the 50-run mark in the sixth over as Du Plessis slammed a boundary on the second last ball, which was bowled by Hazelwood.

At the score of 72, the Delhi franchise lost their third wicket as Du Plessis (22 runs in 26 balls) was sent back on the bowling of skipper Hardik Pandya in the 10th over. KL Rahul (41 runs off 39 balls), Tristan Stubbs (34 runs from 18 balls) and Axar Patel (15 runs in 13 balls) scored some crucial runs for their team as well before getting dismissed.

Right-hand batter Ashutosh Sharma came in as an impact substitute, but he was not able to make his mark as he was sent back after scoring just five runs.

In the end, young uncapped all-rounder Vipraj Nigam played a cameo of 12 runs from just six balls at a strike rate of 200, which took the Delhi Capitals side to 162/8 at the completion of the first innings.

For the Bangalore franchise, three wickets were snapped by Bhuvneshwar Kumar (3/33 in 4 overs), two wickets were grabbed by Josh Hazelwood (2/36 in 4 overs) and one wicket each was bagged by Yash Dayal (1/42 in 4 overs) & Krunal Pandya (1/28 in 4 overs) in their respective spells in the game.

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