NEW DELHI, Apr 26:
It was a sweet homecoming for Delhi boy Virat Kohli as he led Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) to a crushing 10-wicket win over Delhi Daredevils in an Indian Premier League match here today.
Varun Aaron (2/24) and Mitchell Starc (3/20) produced fiery spells of fast bowling to help RCB dismiss Delhi Daredevils for a paltry 95 after opting to field at the Feroz Shah Kotla.
Chasing 96, openers Chris Gayle (62 not out off 40 balls) and Virat Kohli (35 not out off 23) made short work of the modest target, getting the team home in 10.3 overs.
With the emphatic win, the Bangalore side got its IPL campaign back on track and now has three wins in six games. For Daredevils, it was their fourth defeat in seven matches.
Gayle scored bulk of the runs in the small chase as Kohli was happy to see the fireworks from the non-striker’s end.
The West Indian got the small chase going by smashing medium pacer Dominic Joseph for 14 runs off his first over. He looked in his usual devastating touch after missing out in the last game.
Gayle later smacked leggie Imran Tahir over mid-wicket to get to his fifty. It was one of the four sixes he hit in his blistering knock. Kohli, who only got to score his first boundary in the seventh over, hit the winning runs, his sublime straight drive that brought the crowd on its feet.
His fans chanted ‘Kohli Kohli’ at regular intervals but in the end, they went home after thoroughly enjoying Gayle’s show.
Earlier, Aaron and Starc led a splendid bowling effort to bowl out the opposition cheaply.
The visitors struck in the first over through their premier pace bowler Starc, who fired his trademark inswinger into the pads of in-form Shreyas Iyer and the umpire did not take long to raise his finger. It was a big blow for the hosts as Iyer went into the game as the team’s leading run-getter.
Captain Duminy walked in next and alongside Mayank Agarwal, he was up against serious pace from both ends with Aaron also steaming in. However, Aaron conceded 13 runs in his second over to release a bit of pressure.
Just when it looked Daredevils’ innings was getting some momentum, RCB broke the backbone of the home team by taking three quick wickets to make it 39 for four in 6.3 overs. All their experienced batsmen — Duminy(13), Yuvraj Singh (2) and Angelo Mathews (0) — were gone in a space of seven balls.
After David Wiese had Duminy caught behind, Aaron came back to remove Yuvraj and Mathews in successive balls to put the visitors on top. Yuvraj played a loose shot on a good length ball that took off after pitching before Mathews looped a simple catch to AB de Villliers at midwicket.
It was another failure for Rs 16 crore buy Yuvraj, who has scored 124 runs in seven innings at 17.71.
By the first time-out, the scoreboard had a sorry look to it with the home team crawling at 45 for four in nine overs.
For RCB, wrecker-in-chief Aaron proved his worth with a spirited spell after he was brought back into the side in place of injured leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal.
Kohli chose to go with an extra seamer in the absence of Chahal and the move worked.
It soon became 72 for six after left-arm spinner Iqbal Abdulla had Agarwal (27) stumped in a wicket maiden and in the next over, Wiese trapped Nathan Coulter-Nile in front of the stumps.
From there on, it all went downhill for Daredevils as Starc added two more wickets to his tally by sending back Amit Mishra and Shahbaz Nadeem with perfectly placed off-stump yorkers. (PTI)
Follow our WhatsApp channel