Delhi Capitals save their lives with seven-wicket win in Indian Premier League
Posted Date – 11:45 PM, Sat – 5/6/23
Innes Photos
New Delhi: Phil Salter came up with an outrageous batting display as Delhi Capitals kept alive in the Indian Premier League with a seven-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bengaluru here on Saturday.
Virat Kohli (55 off 56 balls) completed his “homecoming” with a landmark 50 runs before Mahipal Lomror (54 off 29 balls) hit a career-best strike to challenge Royal Bangalore. The Raiders lead to 181 points by four. Needing to win every game from now on for a play-off berth, Derry’s overseas batsmen were fearless with an aggregate of 16.4.
In addition to Salt’s 45-ball 87, David Warner (14 balls 22 balls), Mitchell Marsh (17 balls 26 balls) and Rilee Rossouw (21 balls 29 balls not out) also made timely cameos. It was the second win in a row for Delhi, who need to win their remaining four games, while RCB suffered their fifth defeat in 10 games. Salt and Warner went all out as Derry ran to 60 without losing in five games.
Mohammad Siraj’s 19-run fifth innings gave Delhi an initial advantage and RCB could not fight back from there. India’s premier fast bowler could have avoided a rough encounter with Salt as Salt knocked him down for a couple of 6s and 4s. In Salt’s special inning, Siraj’s even-six over extra cover came off the fore. Delhi’s performance also highlighted their reliance on foreign players where Indian batsmen underperformed.
Earlier, Kohli mania swept Feroz Shah Kotla as Delhi fans wore their favorite player’s RCB jersey on another day. The star batsman made sure they didn’t go home disappointed with 55 off 46 balls, his sixth half-century of the season, before Lomror hit some stunning strikes en route to an IPL-high score shoot.
Kohli also became the first player in tournament history to reach 7,000 runs. Kohli and Faf du Plessis (45 for 32) have contributed most of the scoring for RCB this season and both took their time to start strong games.
Khaleel Ahmed hit a short and wide ball at the opening and Kohli was delighted to get the ball past David Warner midway through his first boundary. One of the highlights of Kohli’s innings was a pull and inside-out shot he played with his Delhi partner Ishant Sharma.
Derry Capitals were able to keep the high-profile opener quiet until the end of the fourth period. Duplesis barely got the ball in the first three overs, hitting Mukesh Kumar straight before releasing a forehand.
A short-ball fumble followed, leading to third boundary. Khaleel’s sixth innings was all the more productive for RCB as Du Plessis delivered a full straight strike in the first six overs of the match.
