Delhi Capitals beat Royal Challengers Bengaluru by six wickets in the 26th match of the Indian Premier League. It was an exciting match which went down to the wire but Delhi came out on top. Royal Challengers Bengaluru were batting and had an excellent start in the first ten overs where they scored close to 100 runs. Delhi Capitals pulled things back nicely at the back end to restrict RCB to 175/8 at the end of the first innings. It was a tacky wicket and the score was a good one at the halfway stage. Delhi Capitals were rocked early in the chase as they lost three wickets in the power play. KL Rahul and Tristan Stubbs smashed half centuries while Miller played an excellent cameo as Delhi Capitals won the game. Rajat Patidar | RCB captain: That was very close, but I feel that we were 15-20 runs short. The way we started initially, especially Virat bhai and Salt, they have given a good start, but from there, after 12-13 overs, we lost wickets in a couple of overs and that put us on the backseat. I think in the first inning, it was a bit tacky, I would say. But I think the way we stretched in the last over, I think that's a positive sign for us. But I think I was just discussing with the bowlers that be clear whatever you do. It's a long tournament, but I think we will go back and introspect where we put the errors and we'll rectify them.
David Miller: It feels really good. Obviously, to get one from the other night, obviously, I was just a bit disappointed a couple of games ago, but to get myself back in that position, was good to get over the line. It's always going to be there at the back of the mind (on unable to finish the job against GT) until you actually win another game. That's our take. And it has been a couple of games, you know, we obviously have a week off, so I've worked on a few things, just trying to stay in the moment as well and do what I can. My first six balls, I thought, they were really unbelievable. While there were six yorkers to me and I couldn't get going, but, yeah, really chuffed that it came off in the last six balls. (Chat with Stubbs) We did try to finish it in the second to last over, but when you need those 43-odd runs in the last four overs, we always knew there was one or two sixes. When you hit six and then a back-to-back four or six, then, you know, the bowler's always under pressure from there. So it's just trying to limit the dot balls. And then when the boundary ball comes, you kind of capitalise. So it was trying to stay calm, obviously keep communicating with the partner and, yeah, I'll take it as deep as I can, as we can. Batting where I did, there was a lot of stop and starts this game. It felt like, he couldn't get going. And then, there was a break in play a lot of the time. So, balls were a bit scrambled, but when I walked to the wicket, Stubbo said to me, you just keep your intensity really high. So for me, that obviously helped a lot. You know, just a reminder, which clicked me into a good frame of mind. And it came after a little while. It's always good finishing off games with Stubbs. We batted a lot together and he just said thanks so much, you saved me there. But I thought he batted unbelievably well. Obviously anchored the innings all the way through. He was calm. He's got a great technique and then obviously very powerful. So for him being there was massive for us.
KL Rahul | DC's acting captain: The wicket did a little bit early on. I could see Virat and Phil Salt not happy with the way the ball was coming on. Us losing three wickets in the first six didn't make it easy for us. So yeah, it was, I think all in all a really good cricket game. (Plan after losing three quick wickets) The conversation was to continue to play good cricket shots and see how we can find boundaries and how we can still put the pressure on the bowlers. We didn't want to go into our shell and then the run rate keeps climbing up, it gets harder and harder towards the end. We saw that when we bowled as well, when there was a little bit of reverse swing as well and the opposition have some really good death bowlers as well. So we didn't want to take it too deep. We just wanted to stay in the moment, take it one over at a time and try and put pressure on the bowlers. And yeah, he hit some good shots. I hit some good shots. As it turned out, it did go quite deep. (Neervous towards the end?) No, there was faith in Stubbs and Miller. They do this on a daily basis for South Africa and franchise cricket. So, we also knew that the last two overs was going to be a gamble for RCB as well. And we knew that probably Romario Shepherd will bowl or maybe Suyash Sharma will bowl, which gives our batters a good chance to hit two sixes in the last two overs. So yeah, ideally we wouldn't have wanted it to go till the 20th over, but we'll take the win.
Tristan Stubbs | Player of the match: I was in quite a ready in the change room. I thought, just watch the ball and just go from there. (Talks about the approach from 18/3) No, it was quite nice. Came in really early and then the last two overs of the powerplay, I thought, okay, I can have a go here. Then KL ended up getting most of the strike and taking us, getting us real momentum. And then through the middle there, the way he batted was magnificent. He really kept us going. And we spoke before as a team to bat in partnerships. So I thought, he's going well, so just give him the strike. (Talking about the surface) No, it wasn't like spinning or anything, but it was just a little bit slow. Pretty much what I play on back home. But yeah, thankfully we got through. Yeah, I kept thinking three sixes and we're straight back in it. And they bowled their guns out quite early. So then I always thought, worst case, the last over we can get whatever we need. But I didn't want to take it to the last over. But thankfully we got over the line. I said to him (Miller) now, I knew we were going to do it. I didn't know how. So thankfully, David Miller was on the other end. And that's him, that's his bread and butter.
The match had everything and it went down to the wire and in the last over it was the heroics of Miller which helped Delhi Capitals get over the line. This was a much needed win for Delhi after losing their previous two matches. On the other hand, Royal Challengers Bengaluru will need to work out a few things before their next match of the season.
