Indian Premier League: Royal Challengers Bangalore edge out Delhi Daredevils in a pulsating encounter
DD 160/6 20 overs RCB 161/7 19.3 overs
Bangalore edged out hosts Delhi in a pulsating finish to score an important win, which has improved their chances of finishing amongst the top four teams after the group stage of the cash rich league.
The hosts opted to bat first in the match played at Kotla in Delhi. The star of the show was James Hopes, who scored a breezy half century to help his team get a sizeable total.
The mainstays, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Virender-Sehwag-c95429, and his opening partner, David Warner, had an ordinary game, as both were dismissed cheaply in the game.
Hopes scored 54 runs off 43 balls, his innings was studded with 7 fours and was the cornerstone of the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Venugopal-Rao-c2752, who scored 24 runs.
For the visitors Abhimanyu Mithun claimed 2 wickets conceding 37 runs in his allocation of 4 overs.
The Bangalore team lost Dilshan without score. However, the pair of Chris Gayle and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Virat-Kohli-c95424 brought them back in the hunt. The two took the total to 83, as Gayle took the back seat for a change to support the assault by Kohli.
Gayle was dismissed for 26 off 14 balls, while Kohli motored along to a score 56 off 38 balls, his innings was studded with 8 fours.
Kohli fell in the 10th over of the innings, the score was 96 at this stage and the game was in the balance, as the Indian top order batsman was the 4th one to fall.
The chase was carried forward by the late order batsmen. Daniel Vettori, the captain of the Challengers, came good with the bat after a long time. His crucial unbeaten knock of 18 runs took his team home. He was ably supported by Syed Mohammad, who scored
an unbeaten 13 off 10 balls.
The Delhi attack that was taken apart by Kohli and Gayle early on came back strongly. However, they failed to run through the Challengers. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Morne-Morkel-c77722 with 3 wickets was the pick of the bowlers.
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