The game between Delhi Daredevils and Royal Challengers Bangalore was a merry go round, as at one stage, it looked like Delhi will win the game and on another occasion, it looked like Bangalore is the favourite and in the end, it was the home side that stole the game, which erstwhile can be called as was in firm control of the visitors.
Thanks to an innings of 69 from Kedar Jadhav that RCB was able to put up a defendable total of 157 on the board or else the team could have found it difficult to get even closer to 130.
The impact of Jadhav innings can be known by the fact that the rest of batsmen could just add 15 runs in the last three over of RCB’s innings, which somehow also raised questions over their selection.
In a race to this chase, Delhi lost three early wickets but the hopes of winning the game were not put to rest until the time Rishabh Pant was there.
Pant announced his arrival with a six off the first ball he faced and continued to play the same way till last. Delhi needed 19 runs to win off the final over with Pant on strike. Even though it was tough, but still, everyone had hoped for a miracle but a Pant’s wicket on the first ball ended hopes of Delhi winning the game.
Wth this win, RCB added another win to their account and now they have a total of 10 wins over Delhi in IPL.
Here is what skippers of both sides and Man of the Match Kedar Jadhav have to say regarding the game –
Kedar Jadhav:
I’m feeling on top of my game and I’m working on my fitness too. At the age of 15, I was just clearing 30 yards but I was improvising well at that time. I just watch the ball, keep the options open and react to it. Even though I’m short, I work hard on my fitness and gym. When your top players are not playing, you have to take responsibility. I want to do that for the rest of the tournament too.
Shane Watson:
It was a great win. Kedar batted beautifully. Our score was a bit below par, I think the wicket was slow tonight. You want to turn the momentum around very quickly even if it was only one loss. The way we fielded and bowled was very good tonight. Just my gut feel with Negi. Pant hadn’t seen him tonight. It was a gamble, no doubt about that. But the way Negi bowls, with his variations. Chahal has done it for a long time for the RCB and he has done it for India too. They’ll be back for the next game (when asked about the status of the star players). *Then he backtracks and says he’s joking*
Zaheer Khan:
Eight out of ten times we would got over this total. Just couldn’t get the partnerships going today. The wicket was playing well and we could have applied ourselves better. As soon as a new batsman is in, we needed to spend time in the middle getting used to the conditions but that wasn’t to be. Pant played really well and he needed some support at the other end. He showed real heart with his commitment and we are all there for him as a team. The ball was sitting up nicely and that is why 157 was possible to get is what I felt. Glad that Nadeem got the opportunity in this game. We have someone like Jayant sitting out and we have enough depth in the bowling. It is the batting that is inexperienced but once they get in, they would be unstoppable. I am happy to be back on the field, enjoying every moment with the boys.