Hetymer cameo in vain as RCB clinch thriller

Royal Challengers Bangalore returned to their winning ways following a thrilling one-run victory over Delhi Capitals. Chasing 172, DC came agonisingly close to the target following Shimron Hetmyer’s pyrotechnics at the death but an excellent last over from Mohammed Siraj to Rishabh Pant helped RCB eke out the tight win.

How did the final over pan out?

Virat Kohli trusted Siraj to stop the run flow in the final over and he delivered. Thankfully for RCB, a misfiring Pant was hogging the strike for the major part of the over with Hetmyer getting to face only a solitary delivery. The first ball was a low full toss which was hit straight to the fielder at the boundary by Pant. Siraj got the yorker spot on in his second delivery to concede only a single again.

Another full length delivery was hit back to the bowler much to Pant’s frustration and the equation was suddenly 12 from 3. Pant managed to squeeze a couple off the fourth ball and finally managed a streaky boundary when Siraj bowled a full toss that was dangerously close to being called a no-ball. Needing six from the final ball, Siraj bowled a full toss that was directed wide away from the batsman and Pant managed only a four once again to see his side fall short.

Was the game always in DC’s reach?

Not really. A sandstorm delayed the start of the run chase and RCB saw Prithvi Shaw get off to a flier once again. However, they struck at the other end when Shikhar Dhawan mistimed a pull straight to the fielder at the deep backward square leg boundary. Steve Smith fell in the very next over edging Siraj behind and Harshal Patel took just two balls to open his account for the night when Shaw edged a short and wide delivery behind to AB de Villiers.

Stoinis appeared to give the chase some impetus with some powerful strokes but Harshal struck again, for the 17th time in the tournament when he found the outside edge of the Australian allrounder. At that stage, things looked extremely bleak for the Capitals as they needed 80 from 44.

Contrasting half-centuries from Pant, AB and Hetmyer (Photos: IPL/BCCI)

How did it get to close?

It was simply a one-man show. Unfortunately for DC, Pant had a bad day with the bat as he found it hard to get into a rhythm. But Hetmyer made up for it by dazzling at the other end. He got into beast mode by smashing a six and four off successive deliveries against Siraj and found a massive reprieve in the next over when Devdutt Padikkal put down a chance.

He made RCB pay dearly by clearing the boundary thrice with his side needing 46 from 18 balls. Those three sixes brought the equation down to 25 from 12 and suddenly, the odds were in favour of DC. He also got to his fifty off just 23 balls and had set himself up for one final onslaught but just couldn’t get himself on strike for more than one delivery in that final over.

De Villiers dazzles again

RCB themselves didn’t look like getting anywhere near 170 at the halfway mark. Avesh Khan, one of the standout bowlers this season, got Kohli to inside-edge one on to his stumps and the returning Ishant Sharma sneaked past Padikkal’s defence off the very next ball to cause problems. Rajat Patidar finally looked in good touch after getting picked again and Glenn Maxwell at the other smashed a couple of sixes to get going as well.

But DC once again struck at the right time as Amit Mishra got rid of Maxwell and a well-set Patidar was snared by Axar Patel. But the last five overs belonged to one man. By that time, de Villiers had already settled in having faced 22 deliveries for 28. Pant took a brave call by opting to bowl Rabada out before the final two overs in order to try and dismiss de Villiers but the South African great managed to not only survive but also eke out a couple of crucial boundaries before unleashing himself on Stoinis in the final over. De Villiers went on to pick 22 runs in that over clearing the ropes thrice as he finished unbeaten on 75 to once again stand tall when the rest of the unit couldn’t.

Brief scores: Royal Challengers Bangalore 171/5 in 20 overs (AB de Villiers 75*, Rajat Patidar 31; Ishant Sharma 1-26) beat Delhi Capitals 170/4 in 20 overs (Rishabh Pant 58*, Shimron Hetmyer 53*; Harshal Patel 2-37) by 1 run

What’s next for these two sides?

Delhi Capitals will have to pick themselves up quickly from this narrow loss as they take on Kolkata Knight Riders in less than 48 hours at the same venue. The high-flying RCB will take on the struggling Punjab Kings a day later. (cricbuzz)

SCORECARD