Delhi Capitals came up with an all-round show to beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by six wickets and qualify for the IPL 2020 Playoffs.
Despite the loss, Bangalore too made it to the last-four as Delhi booked the No.2 spot and set the first qualifier date with Mumbai Indians.
Having posted a modest total of 152/7, RCB needed to stretch the match beyond 17.3 overs, which it did to give itself a chance to lift the IPL trophy for a maiden time. Delhi, meanwhile, needed to cross the 134-run mark to stay alive. But the Capitals chased down the target in 19 overs to end the league stage as the No.2 team in the tournament.
“Chuffed with the performance. We knew it was a do or die and we just focused on the win, not NRR. The teams who won in the latter half completely changed the scenario. It’s a really competitive tournament for sure. I feel that the bowlers were really up with their plans and knew what they had to execute,” winning skipper Shreyas Iyer said.
Delhi’s bowling fell apart as the side suffered four straight loses before this game and Iyer said, he had a discussion with his bowlers.
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“We had a few sessions back in the hotel and the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition and it worked out today. Mumbai are one of the best teams in the tournament. We need to keep things simple, that’s what we discussed in the meetings. Stick to the basics. The more you keep things simple, the easier it gets,” he said.
Virat Kohli described RCB’s league stage as a ‘mixed bag’ but said his team would come up with a better show in the Playoffs.
“It’s a mixed bag. you come to games to try and get a result your way. Through probably the 11th over, the 17.3 mark was informed by the management. Even if the game was drifting away, we controlled the middle overs well enough. I think we’ve played good enough cricket in this tournament to qualify,” Kohli said.
“We have two games to the final now. We can be more brave in the back end, probably be better in the powerplay (with the ball) which has been our strength. You take what you can with these games,” he added.
Anrich Nortje picked a three-wicket haul and helped Delhi restrict Bangalore to a below-par total.
“I think, I say it time and time again, just the basics. We just had a couple of guys doing the basics right. It wasn’t one guy doing something special. Small things started feeling a little better again, the rhythm. Spoke to KG (Rabada) and he said the same as well. We were speaking about the bigger boundaries, maybe try and hit them there,” Nortje said.
“At the start it’s difficult. So just try and use the conditions. There was a little bit of dew at the end of our bowling innings, so just try and use the conditions. Yorker would have been the go-to options, but I just thought let’s just try and change it up. Especially for the new guys, it’s difficult picking length coming in,” he added.
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