IPL 2023: Kohli, bowlers hand RCB easy win; DC slump to 5th straight defeat

Local lad Vijaykumar Vyshak claimed three wickets on debut to complement Virat Kohli’s imperious fifty as Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) returned to winning ways with a dominant 23-run victory over Delhi Capitals (DC) in IPL 2023 in Bengaluru on Saturday (April 15).

The bottom-placed Delhi side, who came into the match after four losses on the trot, failed in the 175-run chase as they were restricted to 151/9 in the stipulated 20 overs.

Delhi lost four wickets in the powerplay, including that of skipper David Warner (19 off 13 balls), and they were 2 runs for 3 wickets at one stage. Yet to open their account after five matches, time is running out for the Ricky Ponting-coached side.

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They now have the difficult task of winning eight out of their remaining nine matches to secure a play-off berth.

RCB, on the other hand, got their campaign back on track after back-to-back losses as they have four points from as many matches. Vyshak, who was handed his debut in place of Karn Sharma, got his maiden wicket in the form of Warner with a slower delivery, en route to his memorable haul of 3/20.

The 26-year-old varied his pace and mixed his length well to trouble the batters as he went on to take two more wickets – that of Axar Patel and Lalit Yadav – as DC were reduced to 110/8 inside 16 overs.

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After Warner (19 off 13 balls) got out cheaply, Manish Pandey waged a lone battle with a 37-ball 50, his 22nd fifty of the tournament.

But the wily Sri Lankan spinner Wanindu Hasaranga de Silva trapped Pandey, following a smart review, and it was all but over for DC. Continuing his horror run, Prithvi Shaw (0) got out for his fifth single-digit score from eight IPL innings when he became victim of a terrific run-out by Impact Player sub Anuj Rawat.

Shaw was always slow with his running, and he showed a clear lack of intent opening with Warner. Shaw started off the blocks tentatively and Rawat was just pin-point with his throw from extra-cover. Shaw now has 34 runs, including two ducks, from five innings in this IPL.

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Earlier, Kuldeep Yadav led the charge in the middle overs as DC spinners restricted RCB to 174 for six after inserting the home team in.

RCB were going all guns blazing as Kohli (50 off 34 balls) slammed his third fifty of the tournament and Glenn Maxwell (24 off 14 balls; 3×6) was in a six-hitting spree.

But the DC spin trio of Kuldeep (4-1-23-2), Axar Patel (3-0-25-1) and Lalit Yadav (4-0-29-1) seized the momentum in the middle overs.

Mitchell Marsh (2/18 from two overs), who rejoined the team after his wedding, also made a significant contribution with wickets of RCB captain Faf Du Plessis and Mahipal Lomror.

The famed Kohli-du Plessis duo got going without any fuss, scoring 33 runs in four overs. Kohli hammered Anrich Nortje with a fine boundary, while the South African upped the ante with a couple of fours.

Du Plessis stepped out to Axar for the first six of the match after spin was introduced in the fourth over. With Kohli in the box seat, RCB looked in a comfort zone at 89/1 at the halfway mark.

Two points ✅
Chinnaswamy – brilliant as always 👌 pic.twitter.com/ewLWaENrU4

— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) April 15, 2023

But then, RCB found themselves in the backfoot and were reduced to 132/6 after Kuldeep grabbed the wickets of Maxwell and Dinesh Karthik (0) off successive deliveries.

The double-wicket maiden over was preceded by Axar Patel’s dismissal of Harshal Patel as DC secured a team hat-trick to turn it around in the 15th over.

Patel’s dismissal was a freak one as wicketkeeper Abhishek Porel appealed for an LBW and the review showed a faint spike as the batter ended up being dismissed caught-behind. It was Lalit Yadav who dismissed Kohli with a big full toss as the star Indian batter perished, failing to clear the midwicket boundary.

Maxwell entered the stage with an aggressive intent and launched Yadav for a couple of sixes in the same over to get it going straightway. Maxwell was in no mood to relent and the scoring rate almost touched the 10-run an over when Warner took a fine backward running catch to dismiss his Australian teammate. In the next ball, Karthik got out to a golden duck and it was DC up and running out of nowhere.

Back to winning ways 🙌@RCBTweets register a 23-run win at home and clinch their second win of the season 👏👏

Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/xb3InbFbrg #TATAIPL | #RCBvDC pic.twitter.com/5lE5gWQm8H

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 15, 2023

(With agency inputs)