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Patidar shines as RCB pull off fifth consecutive win to keep playoff dreams alive

rugby12 May 2024 17:59| © MWP
By:CS Chiwanza
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Rajit Patidar scored a brilliant half-century that inspired the Royal Challengers Bengaluru to a comprehensive 47-run win over the Delhi Capitals in their Tata Indian Premier League match at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday.

The home side, who registered their fifth win in five outings, scored 187 for nine after they were asked to bat first by the Capitals.

Faf du Plessis's team turned around and bowled out the Capitals for 140.

The victory keeps RCB's dreams for a playoff spot alive. They are now sitting in fifth place.

Patidar made his intentions clear from the moment he arrived at the crease.

His first scoring shot was a drive through the covers for four and was belligerent against the Capitals' bowling attack from that point onwards.

The 30-year-old struck three fours and as many sixes on his way to a 32-ball 52.

This 50 is his fourth in five innings and his fifth of the season. He now has six in his IPL career.

Patidar has been a big reason for RCB's resurgence this season with his ability to maintain a high strike rate in the middle overs.

He has been exceptional against spin, and this tie against the Capitals was no different.

The No 4 batter attacked the visitors' much-vaunted duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel.

Patel's 88-run partnership with Will Jacks (41) was RCB's highest and most important of the innings.

The Englishman struck three fours and two sixes on his way to a crucial 41 off 29.

Besides Patidar and Jacks, Cameron Green (32*) was the only other batter to reach the 30-run mark.

The Australian provided an important lower-order resistance while RCB lost wickets at the death.

His effort, an unbeaten 32 off 24, helped RCB reach a competitive total.

GREEN AND DAYAL COME TO THE PARTY

Later in the evening, Green was one of the bowlers who saw to it that the Capitals did not come close to their required total.

He took a single wicket for 19 runs in four overs and executed a brilliant runout.

However, the star of the show with the ball for RCB was Yash Dayal who bagged three wickets for 20 runs in 3.1 overs.

Axar Patel played a proper captain's innings as he singlehandedly fought the RCB bowling attack to keep his side in the match.

The left-hander, standing in for Rishabh Pant, carved five fours and three sixes on his way to 57 off 39.

This is his second half-century of the season, the third of his IPL career. However, his half-ton was not enough to help his side win.

When Patel walked into bat, the Capitals were under a lot of pressure.

RCB had begun their bowling innings in an inspired manner and won the Powerplay phase, in the process.

The Faf du Plessis-captained side had the Chinnaswamy crowd in a frenzy of cheers in the first over when Swapnil Singh dismissed David Warner with his fourth delivery.

Jake Fraser-McGurk looked to nullify that advantage by hammering a handful of boundaries in the second over.

TWO RUN-OUTS

But RCB's bowlers had their tails up and Yash Dayal swung the pendulum in the home side's favour with two wickets off his first two deliveries.

The first was the dismissal of Abishek Porel with his first ball and an inspired run out of Fraser-McGurk off his second.

The visitors were in deeper trouble when Mohammed Siraj trapped Kumar Kushagra lbw midway through the fourth over.

Patel arrived at the crease in the fourth over with his team on 30 for 4.

He helped the Capitals regroup and finish the Powerplay on 54 for four with Shai Hope and Axar Patel in the middle.

The Hope-Axar fifth-wicket partnership required 32 balls to register a 50-run stand.

Just when it looked like the duo's left-right combination would take the game away from the hosts, Karn Sharma pulled off a brilliant catch to dismiss Hope.

Green further shrunk the Capitals' chances of victory by executing the second run-out of the innings, and like Dayal, it was off his own bowling.

Tristan Stubbs had wandered down the track with the intention of completing a single but was turned back by his captain and didn’t make it in time.

Patel, who had watched a procession of wickets from the 10th over, failed to see the innings through and was dismissed by Dayal in the 16th over, caught by his opposite number, Du Plessis.

The Capitals’ chances died with their captain’s dismissal. The next three batters scored a combined nine runs before the visitors were bowled out.

Besides Patel’s knock, the other bright side of the Capitals’ game was the four wickets taken by Khaleel Ahmed and Rasikh Salam. They bagged a brace each.

However, Rasikh finished better figures, thanks to a better economy rate of 7.66 compared to Khaleel’s 7.75.

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis (capt), Will Jacks, Rajat Patidar, Mahipal Lomror, Cameron Green, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Yash Dayal, Karn Sharma, Mohammed Siraj, Lockie Ferguson.

Delhi Capitals: Jake Fraser-McGurk, Abishek Porel (wk), Shai Hope, Tristan Stubbs, Kumar Kushagra, Axar Patel (capt), Kuldeep Yadav, Rasikh Salam Dar, Ishant Sharma, Khaleel Ahmed, Mukesh Kumar.

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