Once the Royal Challengers were restricted to 163 for seven, the Capitals just needed to bat with common sense but it was a rare commodity in their frontline batters on the night
The craftiness of spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Vipraj Nigam echoed in the assiduous unbeaten 93 of KL Rahul as Delhi Capitals overcame a top-order meltdown to score a six-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bengaluru in their IPL match on Thursday. (Highlights | Schedule | Teams | Points Table)
Once the Royal Challengers were restricted to 163 for seven, the Capitals just needed to bat with common sense but it was a rare commodity in their frontline batters on the night.
But player of the match KL Rahul, whose knock came off 53 balls with seven fours and six sixes, added 111 runs for the fourth wicket with an equally level-headed Tristan Stubbs (38 not out) to score their fourth victory on the bounce.
DC made 169 for four.
Rahul's innings was a prime example of risk management as he started at a slower tempo before shifting the gears seamlessly.
The way Rahul, who was dropped on five by Rajat Patidar off Yash Dayal, dealt with leg-spinner Suyansh Sharma and pacer Josh Hazlewood underlined his intelligent approach.
He was prudent against Suyansh, waiting for his chances to score runs on a sluggish track and carted him for a lone six — a sweep over mid-wicket.
But once Hazlewood returned for his second spell, Rahul used the extra pace to good effect to manufacture big shots such as a scorching six over the bowlers' head.
Stubbs too joined his partners with a couple of lovely straight hits off Bhuvneshwar to the fence as DC strolled home.
However, they had a horror start to the chase as Faf du Plessis, who came back for this match after missing the game against Chennai Super Kings with a niggle, skied Dayal for Rajat Patidar to complete a fine catch.
The mode of dismissal echoed twice soon as Jake-Fraser McGurk and Abhishek Porel walked back to the shed in the same manner.
The visitors were in a quagmire at 30 for three well inside the Power Play, which they eventually finished at 39 for three.
Rahul and captain Axar Patel (15) added 28 runs for the fourth wicket, and the DC innings seemed to have gotten back on the track.
But Axar's attempt to find the boundary over covers off Suyansh could not progress beyond the running-in Tim David.
However, that was the last of the blips in the DC innings as Rahul marked their triumph with a six off Dayal which he celebrated with a sword-on-the-ground celebration.
Earlier, the wizardry of Kuldeep and Nigam helped the Capitals stage a stirring comeback to restrict RCB to a below-par 163 for seven.
Left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep (2/17) and leg-spinner Nigam (2/18) adjusted their lengths beautifully to halt RCB after the Capitals chose to bowl first.
But Delhi's decision to field looked utterly obtuse as Royal Challengers went off the blocks like a galloping horse, going past the 50-run mark in just three overs.
Central to that charge was opener Phil Salt's turbo-charged innings of 37 off 17 balls.
The England batter hammered Mitchell Starc for a sequence of 6, 4, 4, 4, 6 to collect 24 runs in the third over.
However, Salt got run out in a yes-no situation involving Virat Kohli (22, 14b). Kohli and Salt added 61 runs off 24 balls for the opening stand.
But the introduction of Nigam proved a course-altering point.
Nigam gave away just two runs in the fifth over, and pacer Mohit Sharma followed that up with another tidy few balls.
Pressurised by a series of dot balls, Devdutt Padikkal (1) went for a release shot off Mohit, but it lacked any kinetic energy as Axar completed an easy catch.
Kohli, who began to unshackle himself with a six off Nigam over long-on, soon fell to the same bowler while trying to clobber a delivery wide on the off-stump.
Thereafter, the home side lost the wickets of Jitesh 4) and Liam Livingstone (3) in quick succession as they slipped to 102 for five in the 13th over, a far cry from the start they had.
However, David (37 not out, 20b) played a few beefy shots as RCB added 36 runs in the last two overs to go past the 160-run mark.