A perfect chase by Krunal Pandya and Virat Kohli powered Royal Challengers Bengaluru to six wins in six matches away. RCB chased down a 163-run target in 18.3 overs against Delhi Capitals to climb to the top spot on the IPL 2025 Points Table with 14 points from 10 matches. RCB are now just a win away from qualifying for the IPL 2025 Playoffs.
Krunal Pandya, who bagged a wicket for 28 runs, remained unbeaten on 73 off 47 balls. Virat Kohli perished for a 47-ball 51 but Tim David finished things off with a 5-ball 19 to hand RCB their sixth away win on the trot with a 6-wicket win in Delhi.
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Kohli-Krunal’s perfect chase
Two weeks ago, KL Rahul made a statement when he scored an unbeaten 93, chasing 163 in Bengaluru. He pulled off a “It’s my home” celebration. Virat Kohli had his chance too. However, Axar Patel (2/19) did not want to give Kohli or RCB that chance as he struck twice in the powerplay, removing debutant Jacob Bethell for 12 and Devdutt Padikkal for a duck.
But Krunal Pandya had other ideas. He overshadowed the home boy with a perfect knock on a sluggish pitch. After scoring 25 off 27 balls till the 12th over, Krunal took the onus as the asking rate climbed. Krunal just hit a four and a six till then. But against Mukehs Kumar, he turned on the beats mode, hitting the pacer for two sixes in the 13th over. In the next over, he hammered Kuldeep Yadav for a six as he brought up his only 2nd IPL fifty. It was his first fifty in nine years. The last one also came against DC back in IPL 2016.
Virat Kohli, the Orange Cap holder of IPL 2025, was in his element. The chasemaster, who had scored over 3800 runs in chases in IPL, paced his innings perfectly on a sluggish Kotla pitch. He brought up his 61st IPL fifty off 45 balls. It was slow and had 10 dot balls. But he kept rotating strikes, giving away hardly any chance to DC’s pace battery or the spin trio.
While he could not finish the game off, departing for 47-ball 51 against Dushmantha Chameera, he put his team in a commanding position as RCB needed only 18 runs off 13 balls. Tim David finished things off with
A pitch unlike Arun Jaitley Stadium
Arun Jaitley Stadium generally offers pitches that are excellent for batting. The venue is known for high-scoring matches with shorter boundaries and a flat deck. That 209 was the average score at this venue last season tells you how good it was. However, on Sunday, it was unlike anything Arun Jaitley Stadium had offered in the past. It was slow with hardly any help for the batters.
- Average score in IPL 2024: 209
- Average 1st innings score in IPL 2024: 218
Powerplay was the only scoring opportunity for batters and Delhi did that part right. Even though Faf du Plessis, on his return from injury, struggled with 26-ball 22, Abhishek Porel was in a smashing mood. He scored 11-ball 28 with DC posting 52/2 in the powerplay.
Then, it became a struggle. KL Rahul tried to hold things together with a laborious knock of 41 runs off 39 balls, but failed to convert that into a half-century as he fell to Bhuvneshwar Kumar. DC could only manage 120 runs by the end of the 17th over.
DC vs RCB bowling
- Overs 1-6: 52/2 (RR: 8.66)
- Overs 7-15: 56/2 (RR: 6.22)
- Overs 16-20: 54/4 (RR: 10.8)
Tristan Stubbs, though, did not mind the pitch. He was in his destructive best. Coming to bat at No 6 in the 14th over, he took the attack to Bengaluru bowlers. First, it was Josh Hazlewood whom he smashed for two boundaries in the 18th over. Then, Yash Dayal went for two boundaries and a six in the 19th over. While Bhuvneshwar Kumar struck twice in the last over, Stubbs had already hit 34 off 18 to take Delhi Capitals past the 150-run mark.
DC could only score 50 runs against spinners in 8 overs, even though they gave away just one wicket. Against pacers, they lost 6 wickets but scored 111 runs at a run rate of 9.25.
The post DC vs RCB: Krunal Pandya outshines homeboy Virat Kohli, powers RCB to top of IPL 2025 Points Table appeared first on Inside Sport India.