Virat Kohli’s consistency aside, someone or the other has ensured to stand up for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in their impressive IPL campaign so far.
At the Chinnaswamy on Saturday, Romario Shepherd (53 not out off 14 balls) and Lungi Ngidi (3/30) stood up when it mattered as RCB sneaked past Chennai Super Kings by two runs in a thrilling contest. Courtesy the victory, RCB, with 16 points now and at the top of the table, have one foot in the playoffs.
Thanks to a 97-run opening stand between Kohli (62 off 33 balls) and Englishman Jacob Bethell (55 off 33 balls) and Romario’s blitz in the last two overs of their innings, RCB posted 213/5 after being put in. In reply, 17-year-old Ayush Mhatre (94 off 48 balls) and senior pro Ravindra Jadeja (77 not out off 45 balls) helped the Super Kings take the game to the distance. But all they could manage was 211/5.
The 19th and 20th overs of the RCB innings was a match-defining phase when Guyanese all-rounder Romario hammered Khaleel Ahmed for four sixes and two boundaries before finishing the innings by hitting Matheesha Pathirana for two fours and as many maximums.
Before that, Pathirana’s three wickets had pegged RCB back at the start of the slog overs.
Key strikes
In his first appearance this IPL, South African quick Ngidi, after dismissing Sam Curran in his very first over, accounted for Mhatre and Dewald Brevis off successive balls in the 17th over to put RCB back on top.
On a flat deck, Ngidi, coming in for Josh Hazlewood, was spot-on with his length, bowling nine dot balls. That over was certainly a turning point in the game. Jadeja and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni did make an effort till the final over, but Yash Dayal held his nerve to trap Dhoni lbw with three balls remaining.
Dayal had almost messed it up by conceding a six to Shivam Dube, which was also a no-ball. But he did not panic and had the last laugh.
