South African David Miller hit two sixes and a four off successive deliveries in the last over from Romario Shepherd to help Delhi Capitals defeat Royal Challengers Bengaluru by six wickets in their IPL clash on Saturday.
Swing exponent Bhuvneshwar Kumar stunned Delhi by dismissing Pathum Nissanka, impact substitute Karun Nair, and Sameer Rizvi in the first three overs of their chase after RCB were restricted to 175/8 on a slow surface at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
With a 69-run partnership for the fourth wicket, half-centurions KL Rahul (57 off 34 balls) and Tristan Stubbs rebuilt the innings, but RCB stormed back into the game after the former was dismissed by Krunal Pandya.
After captain Axar Patel was forced to leave due to injury on 26, Miller moved out to the middle to replace his countryman Stubbs, and Delhi needed 42 off 25 deliveries.
Until Shepherd was called to the bowling crease for the first time in the game to defend 15 runs, RCB stayed in control.
Stubbs, who finished undefeated on 60 while maintaining composure throughout the chase, was complemented by Miller, who swung him over mid-wicket and drove him over cover for towering sixes before bringing up victory with a flicked four over mid-wicket.
“When I walked out, Stubbo (Stubbs) said to me to keep the intensity really hard and that helped. It’s always good finishing off games with Stubbo and he just said, ‘thank you so much, you saved me there’. For him being there was massive for us,” AFP quoted Miller as saying.
Delhi ended a two-match losing trend after RCB’s first home loss in four games this season, despite Bhuvneshwar’s futile new-ball exploits.
After Axar put the home team in and dominated an opening stand of 52 with Virat Kohli, RCB opener Phil Salt dominated the early exchanges in the afternoon.
When the ball was fresh and hard, the pitch was ideal for batting, and Salt used a sequence of bold strokes to reach his half-century in just 30 deliveries. RCB was bound for a large total at 99/2 at the midway point, but Delhi’s spinners stalled them despite losing Devdutt Padikkal.
As the RCB innings lost steam, left-arm orthodox spinner Axar claimed 2/18 from three overs, while left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav contributed 2/32 from four overs.
Delhi tightened the screws and conceded just 29 runs in the final five overs, which was crucial in the context of the match, thanks to a rapid series of wickets.
