Delhi Capitals suffer fifth straight IPL loss
Debutant medium-pacer Vijaykumar Vyshak took 3-20 to help Royal Challengers Bangalore beat last-place Delhi Capitals by 23 runs in the Indian Premier League, according to The Associated Press.
Vyshak shared five wickets with Mohammed Siraj, who took 2-23 in his four overs, as Delhi was restricted to 151-9 in response to Bangalore’s 174-6.
Bangalore’s Virat Kohli scored his 47th IPL half-century by making 50 off 34 balls, including six fours and a six, and put on 42 off 26 balls with fellow opener Faf du Plessis (22).
Kohli also put on 47 runs off 33 balls for the second wicket with Mahipal Lomror (26).
Kohli, who scored his third half-century of this season, was out caught at deep midwicket in the 11th over.
Wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav took 2-23 in four overs, while Australian allrounder Mitchell Marsh also chipped in with 2-18 in two overs.
Glenn Maxwell scored 24 off 14 balls including three sixes. At one stage, Bangalore lost three wickets in three deliveries across two overs, including Dinesh Karthik for a golden duck.
The hosts recovered to a par score, which proved sufficient for a struggling Delhi batting lineup.
Siraj bowled a superb opening spell, which combined with Wayne Parnell’s (1-28) efforts at the other end, that left Delhi on 2-3 in 2.2 overs thanks to Prithvi Shaw’s run-out.
The opener was subbed in as an impact player but was out after two balls, without bothering the scorers.
David Warner scored 19 off 13 balls, but fell to Vyshak and another big blow came when Marsh holed out for a four-ball duck.
Manish Pandey scored 50 off 38 balls, including five fours and a six, but didn’t receive any support from other batters except Axar Patel, who scored 21 off 14 balls.
Anrich Nortje was 23 not out off 14 balls to even the net run-rate after Delhi was down to 128-9. Nothing could prevent the Capitals’ fifth consecutive loss and it continues to languish at last in the IPL table.
Bangalore moved up to seventh with four points from two wins in four games, and faces Chennai Super Kings at home on Monday. Delhi will play Kolkata Knight Riders on Thursday.
In the second game on Saturday, lower-order batter Shahrukh Khan held his nerve to score 23 not out off 10 balls as Punjab Kings beat Lucknow Super Giants by two wickets with three balls left to move up to fourth.
Playing at home, Lucknow was buoyed by skipper Lokesh Rahul, who belied poor form to score 74 off 56 including eight fours and a six.
It was an underwhelming team batting performance, though, as Kyle Mayers’ 29 off 23 was the second-highest score. Sam Curran, leading Punjab in the absence of injured Shikhar Dhawan, took 3-31 in four overs.
Lucknow finished with 159-8 in 20 overs. In reply, pacer Yudhvir Singh took 2-19 in three overs to damage Punjab’s chase.
It was down to 75-4 at one stage before Sikandar Raza became the first Zimbabwe player to score a half-century in IPL history.
Raza’s 57 off 41 propelled the chase before Khan smacked a four and two sixes to cross the finish line as Punjab scored 161-8 in 19.3 overs.