On this day in 2021: RCB beat DC by 1 run in a thriller
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) led by Virat Kohli did the double over the Delhi Capitals (DC) in the 2021 edition but the match played out at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad in the India leg turned out to be a thriller of a game. RCB defeated Rishabh Pant’s DC by just one run in a tense and nail-biting finish.
RCB went into the sixth match of the 2021 season against DC with four victories in the previous five opening matches. They had lost just one game against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) before squaring off with the Capitals in Ahmedabad. Interestingly, even DC had also won four out of the previous five encounters before facing the Challengers. Their only loss came against Rajasthan Royals in their second match of the campaign.
Speaking about the high-voltage clash that took place at the newly renovated World’s biggest stadium in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, DC skipper Rishabh Pant won the toss and elected to field first. RCB’s opening pair of captain Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal failed to contribute as they were dismissed for 12 and 17 runs respectively. Rajat Patidar who batted at no. three scored 32 runs while the ‘Big Show’ Glenn Maxwell amassed 25 runs off 20 deliveries.
RCB’s legend AB de Villiers then took charge as the destructive batter mustered an unbeaten 75 runs off just 42 balls with three fours and five maximums. De Villiers’s knock helped Kohli’s side in reaching a competitive total of 171/5 in their allotted 20 overs. Avesh Khan was the pick of the bowlers for DC as he took 1/24 in his four overs spell. Tall seam bowler Ishant Sharma was also impressive as he finished his spell with 1/26 to his name.
Chasing 172 for victory, the Capital’s top three batters couldn’t contribute much as Prithvi Shaw got out for 21 runs with Shikhar Dhawan and Steve Smith scoring just six and four runs respectively. Aussie all-rounder Marcus Stoinis mustered 22 runs but it was skipper Pant and Caribbean power-hitter Shimron Hetmyer who kept things going for their side. The latter in particular played a devastating inning of an unbeaten 53 off just 25 balls with two fours and four sixes.
With 14 needed off the final over, Mohammed Siraj was the bowler as Pant and Hetmyer took singles off the first two deliveries. Siraj delivered a dot on the third ball to Pant and with 12 needed off the final three balls, the DC skipper took a double on the fourth and smashed two consecutive fours on the last two balls to remain not out on 58 runs. The two successive fours weren’t enough as DC lost an enthralling encounter by a margin of just one run. For his blistering and match-winning inning, AB de Villiers was adjudged with the Player of the Match award.
