Ugly scenes unfolded the last time Royal Challengers Bangalore took the field in IPL 2023. The low-scoring away fixture vs Lucknow Supergiants secured two points but left a bad taste in the mouth as Virat Kohli, Naveen-ul-Haq and Gautam Gambhir were involved in a series of heated exchanges. All eyes were again on the RCB unit when they locked horns with Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Saturday.
And the game witnessed some tension when Mohammed Siraj and DC opener Phil Salt exchanged more than a few words in the fifth over of the chase. Salt was going bang-bang from word go and Siraj was receiving most of the hammering. Six, six, four off the first three balls and the seamer was feeling the heat and decided to throw some verbal volleys at the right-hander. It was an animated exchange as the quick repeatedly pointed fingers at the batter but all the fire was doused off with timely intervention from skippers David Warner, Faf du Plessis and the two umpires.
Siraj’s theatrics certainly didn’t unsettle Salt who continued to bat aggressively and made mockery of the chase with a 45-ball 87. The right-handed batter’s knock was laced with almost all strokes in the textbook, with pull being the most productive one as he accumulated 26 runs from it. The DC batter struck six sixes and eight fours during his innings.
“I’m very satisfied with the knock. Obviously, there was a little bit of needle. When we were in Bangalore for the last game, their boys were up. But the pre-match chat was about going over the line which I felt we did really well," Salt said at the post-match presser on the altercation with Siraj.
DC operated with a plan and they wanted to rattle RCB’s bowling spearhead Siraj. It worked as the hosts got off to a flying start and collected 28 off the two overs Siraj bowled. Throughout the season, Siraj has provided early breakthroughs for the RCB but Saturday wasn’t his night.
“I knew if I go out there and put the pressure back on the bowlers and get off to a good start then it makes the task easier for the other batters. With our style of play, when we do score runs, we have a much better chance of winning the game," the DC opener pointed.
DC’s batting has struggled this year and the Indian batters have failed to put up a show. The bulk of the scoring, at a not-so-impressive strike-rate, has been done by skipper Warner and it’s the bowling which has made them look a bit competitive in the middle.
“I feel our bowlers have come out really well in tricky situations. So, obviously, we are grateful to what the bowling unit has been doing. The batters now have got the clarity that we can go out there and play freely," Salt said.
The approach of the two teams in the powerplay was completely different. While RCB followed the cautious approach, DC went after everything. Salt credited the bowlers for keeping RCB quiet when the restrictions were on.
“We bowled well at them early on. We didn’t take wickets in the powerplay but we restricted them really well. Axar is a very-skilled bowler. He knows exactly what he wants to do," Salt pointed.
Faf did pick up the scoring after the watchful phase but once he was dismissed in the 11th over, Virat Kohli was unable to score freely and the total was given a serious push by Mahipal Lomror, who fired a 29-ball 54 and completed his maiden half-century in the IPL.
Kohli’s strike-rate has already been talk of the town was back in the discussion after he could manage 55 off 46. Lomror, who came in at No.4 after Glenn Maxwell’s early departure, took the DC bowlers on and helped his side score 181/4 in 20 overs. When asked whether there was any plan of Kohli playing the way he did, Lomror said the former Indian skipper wanted to play deep into the innings.
“When Virat and me were batting, the game plan was simple that he will bat right till the end while I will try to get a couple of boundaries in each over. When Kuldeep Yadav came on to bowl, there was a bit of turn on offer and I took my chance and it paid off," Lomor said at the post-match presser.
DC motored home in the 17th over to pocket two crucial points and did hurt RCB’s net run-rate with that hammering. The Warner-led unit is 9th on the table with eight points from 10 games while RCB are fifth with 10 points from 10 games.
By the time the game got over, the tension witnessed in the fifth over of DC chase had evaporated as the players greeted each other warmly during the customary handshakes and some of them engaged in fun, relaxed conversations with players from opposite camps.
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