With the help of half-centuries from Ajinkya Rahane and Shikhar Dhawan, the Delhi Capitals thrashed Royal Challengers Bangalore by six wickets in a match played in Abu Dhabi on Monday. With this victory, the Delhi team has reached the playoffs of the 13th season of the IPL T20 cricket tournament. Bangalore, who faced defeat, have also qualified for the playoffs. Delhi won the toss and elected to bat first. With the help of a half-century from opener Devdutt Padikkal, Bangalore set a target of 153 against Delhi. In reply, Delhi won the match by 154 runs for the loss of four wickets in 19 overs.
Top-ranked Mumbai Indians have 18 points while Delhi Capitals have 16 points. Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders have 14-14 points but Bangalore have qualified for the playoffs based on their net run rate. Kolkata will have to rely on the outcome of the league final against Mumbai Indians and Sunrisers Hyderabad on Tuesday. If Mumbai wins this match, Kolkata will qualify. But if Mumbai loses, Hyderabad will also get 14 points. With a good net run rate, Hyderabad is likely to reach the playoffs.
Delhi got off to a bad start as they took the field to reach the target of 153 runs. Prithvi was out for 19 runs. He scored nine runs. However, then opener Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane, who performed brilliantly in the tournament, batted brilliantly together. The pair laid the foundation for the team's victory with an 88-run partnership.
Dhawan hit 54 off 41 balls with the help of six fours, scoring another half-century. Ajinkya Rahane, who had a disappointing performance in the current tournament, played an innings of 60 off 46 balls. Which included five fours and a six. Captain Shreyas Iyer was dismissed for seven. Rishabh Pant was unbeaten on eight and Marcus Stoinis was unbeaten on 10. For Bangalore, Shahbaz Ahmed took two wickets and Mohammad Siraj and Washington Sundar took one wicket each.
Earlier, opener Devdutt Padikkal's half-century and AB de Villiers' aggressive batting helped Royal Challengers Bangalore reach 152 for seven in the allotted 20 overs. The opening pair of Josh Philip and Devdutt Padikkal made a solid start. Philip was out for 12. But Padikkal teamed up with captain Virat Kohli. The pair shared a 57-run partnership. However, Kohli was dismissed for 29 off 24 balls with two fours and a six. When Padikkal completed his half century. He hit 50 off 41 balls with the help of five fours.
AB de Villiers then immediately batted to put the team ahead. However, no batsman except Shivam Dubey at the opposite end gave him proper cooperation. De Villiers hit 35 off 21 balls. Which included one four and two sixes. Shivam Dubey contributed 17 runs. For Delhi, Enrich Nortje was quick for three wickets while Kagiso Rabada had two and Ravichandran Ashwin had one.
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