IPL 2023: Kohli's 50 powers RCB to 174/6 versus DC
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) posted 174/6 while batting first against Delhi Capitals in Match 20 of the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL). Virat Kohli (50) starred with another half-century. Skipper Faf du Plessis, Glenn Maxwell, and Mahipal Lomror also made decent contributions. For DC, Mitchell Marsh and Kuldeep Yadav were among the wickets. Here we look at the innings report.
A decent powerplay for RCB
DC won the toss and elected to bowl at Bengaluru's Chinnaswamy Stadium. RCB were off to a flier as openers Virat Kohli (50) and Faf du Plessis (22) added 42 runs in no time. Mitchell Marsh struck in the fifth over as du Plessis went back. RCB did not lose any other wicket in the powerplay and were 47/1 after six overs.
DC bounce back in the middle overs
RCB lost momentum in the middle overs, managing 87/6 in overs between seven to 15. Kohli fell prey to Lalit Yadav right after completing his fifty. In Mahipal Lomror (26), RCB lost another set batter as Marsh struck in his second over as well. Kuldeep Yadav dismissed Glenn Maxwell (24) and Dinesh Karthik (0) in the same over, denting RCB further.
How did the death overs pan out?
Shahbaz Ahmed (20*) scored a handy cameo as RCB managed just 40 in the final five overs. Anuj Rawat couldn't get going as he managed 15* off 22 deliveries. Kuldeep was the pick of the DC bowlers, claiming 2/23 in four overs. Marsh (2/18), Lalit Yadav (1/29) and Axar Patel (1/25) were the other wicket-takers. Mustafizur Rahman was expensive, conceding 0/41 in three overs.
A massive milestone for Kohli
Kohli, who scored 50 off 34 balls, became the first batter to complete 2,500 IPL runs at a venue. He has now raced to 2,539 runs at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in 78 games at 38.46. While no other batter has even 2,000 runs at a venue, Kohli's former RCB teammate AB de Villiers (1,960 at Chinnaswamy) trails him in this regard.
Second-most runs against Delhi Capitals
Kohli has now raced to 975 IPL runs against DC at 51.31. He narrowly missed out on displacing Rohit Sharma (977) as the batter with the most IPL runs against the Capitals. Meanwhile, this was his 47th IPL fifty and third of the season. He also owns five tons in the competition. He now owns 68.38 IPL runs at 36.76, most for any batter.
DC spinners excel versus RCB
The spin trio of Axar, Kuldeep, and Lalit Yadav bowled stellar spells in the middle overs, helping DC make a brilliant comeback. The trio conceded just 77 runs in 11 overs combined and scalped four wickets.
