Our wait for the first win of the TATA Indian Premier League 2023 season continues, as the boys, despite a spirited effort, went down to Royal Challenger Bangalore at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Our captain fantastic David Warner called it right at the coin toss and put RCB to bat.
The home team started their innings in style with Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis going on the offensive from the get-go.
‘Marsh’alling The Delhi Capitals' Fightback
However, Mitchell Marsh, returning to the team after missing the last two matches due to his wedding back in Australia, gave us the much-needed breakthrough and sent Faf back to the pavilion.
Credits to Aman Khan for flying high and latching onto a blinder after the RCB captain mistimed one.
Kohli, meanwhile, reached his half-century in just 33 balls. Just as the RCB talisman was starting to look dangerous, Lalit Yadav struck in the 11th over to dismiss the big fish.
Mitch came back into the attack and rocked RCB one more time. The finest of edges from Mahipal Lomror carried cleanly to our wicket-keeper Abishek Porel.
Captain Warner referred it upstairs and RCB lost their third wicket with 117 on the board.
The Game Turners:
Another DRS call minutes later and another wicket for our boys. This time, Harshal Patel had edged an Axar Patel delivery to Porel.
Axar’s spin partner Kuldeep Yadav then got in on the action and followed up with a double wicket-maiden, removing the dangerous Glenn Maxwell and Dinesh Karthik with successive deliveries.
RCB eventually ended their innings with 174/6 on the board in 20 overs.
Not An Ideal Start To The Chase:
Our run chase had a shaky start with Prithvi Shaw, Mitchell Marsh and Yash Dhull being sent back to the dugout in consecutive overs.
With our team struggling 2/3, Manish Pandey joined forces with Captain Warner in the middle to steady the ship.
Warner looked in good form and hit Siraj for a hat-trick of boundaries in the fifth over but was dismissed in the very next over by Vijaykumar Vyshak for his debut IPL wicket.
Manish Pandey’s Resolute Stand:
Manish Pandey put up a resolute stand with our backs to the wall and scored 50 off 38 balls before finally being dismissed. Axar Patel, fresh off his half-century from the last match, gave him support with a breezy 21 off 14.
After the two departed, we lost wickets at regular intervals. Anrich Nortje pitched in with some big hits towards the death but Delhi Capitals eventually fell short by 24 runs.
With the positives from the match with us, we head to the Qila Kotla next to face Kolkata Knight Riders.
Brief Scores: Royal Challengers Bangalore - 174/6 (20), Virat Kohli - 50 (34), Mahipal Lomror 26 (18), Kuldeep Yadav - 2/23, Mitchell Marsh 2/18 beat Delhi Capitals - 151/9 (20), Manish Pandey 50 (38), Anrich Nortje - 23 (14), Vijaykumar Vyshak - 3/20, Mohammed Siraj - 2/23
Player of the Match: Virat Kohli
