Glenn Maxwell took a little more responsibility while Dinesh Karthik fared even better as a finisher as Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) overcame a poor start to post a solid total versus Delhi Capitals at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday.
Asked to bat first, RCB were wobbling at 40 for 3 in the seventh over with captain Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli, who was run out off a brilliant direct hit from Lalit Yadav, back in the dugout. But valuable contributions from Maxwell (55 off 34 balls) and Karthik’s late flourish (66 not out off 34 balls) powered RCB to 189 for 5, which didn’t look possible at all at the halfway stage of their innings.
Maxwell’s knock was a reflection of his gains in terms of maturity and judiciousness when it comes to shot selection.
Of course, he could have scored more runs, considering how assured he looked in the middle, batting at No.4. But one cannot take anything away from the impetus the Australian dasher’s innings, comprising seven boundaries and two maximums, provided to RCB when they were looking down the barrel.
RCB’s Dinesh Karthik during his unbeaten 66 on Saturday. Twitter
RCB, though, weren’t out of the woods even after Maxwell had fired. When Kuldeep Yadav got rid of him, RCB were 92 for 5 in the 12th over. Fortunately, Karthik brought their innings back on track again.
Once he got into his groove, there was no stopping Karthik. Even Bangladeshi left-arm quick Mustafizur Rahman, one of Delhi’s most disciplined bowlers and someone who’s known to be a slog-overs specialist, wasn’t spared.
Karthik hammered him for four fours and two sixes in the 18th over, which leaked 28.
Unlucky KuldeepAfter being taken for 23 in his first over, courtesy Maxwell, Kuldeep did pull things back a bit later on.
Delhi Capitals’ Kuldeep Yadav exults after dismissing Glenn Maxwell. Twitter
But he could still have had better figures had Delhi skipper and wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant not dropped Karthik when the RCB batsman was only on five.
It was a straighter delivery that Karthik had completely misread. That let-off did hurt Delhi a lot.
