The Dehli Daredevils collapsed under the pressure of the super over after fighting their way back into a game which swung dramatically against the Royal Challengers at Bangalore on Tuesday night.
They had managed to defend their mediocre total of 152 thanks to a spectacular collapse by the home team, but in the super over they lost two wickets for 11 runs, chasing a target of 16, based on two pulled sixes by AB de Villiers off Umesh Yadav.
David Warner pulled straight into the hands of Chris Gayle at backward point off the first ball from Ravi Rampaul, and while Irfan Pathan made an effort with a four and six, Ben Rohrer was bowled off the last ball.
It had all seemed so easy when Royal Challengers captain Virat Kohli and De Villiers enjoyed a superb partnership of 103 off 75 balls when chasing the Daredevils’ target. Then, at 129 for two, De Villiers chanced his legs once too often and was run out by a direct throw from Morne Morkel at mid-off for 39 off 32 balls.
Just 22 balls later, the Royal Challengers were seven down for 138 with eight balls to go and Kohli out to a poor shot to Jayawardene at extra cover. Kohli had blasted his way to 65 off 50 with seven fours and a six.
Despite a six from Rampaul, the Royal Challengers could not pierce the field and a scrambled bye off the last ball gave them a chance with a super over.
It was the Royal Challengers’ fourth win in six games, putting them top of the log, while the Daredevils are in crisis with five straight defeats this season.
Defending a target off 153 at a run rate of 7.65, the Daredevils’ hopes were lifted when young stand-in opener Lokesh Rahul fell early and the formidable Chris Gayle thick-edged a cut to Yadav at third man, leaving the home team at 43 for two. Earlier, when Gayle pushed a single off Nehra’s first ball, he brought up his 5 000th T20 run and his 2 000th in the IPL.
That brought Kohli and De Villiers together and the drama began.
The Daredevils had earlier squandered a great start by Virender Sehwag and Warner who posted a healthy 43 after five overs. Then, on the last ball of the power play, Warner, on 15 off 13 balls, slapped a delivery straight back to Vinay Kumar and two balls later Sehwag chipped a soft catch to Kohli at mid-on. Out for 25 off 23 and all the good work undone.
Mahela Jayawardene and Manprit Juneja had to rebuild the innings, which they did solidly enough, but they were never able to take control of the run-rate, so when Juneja fell on 17, trying to hit Unadkat out of the ground, their partnership of 30 had taken five full overs.
Unadkat also snapped up Ben Rohrer and ended his spell with 2-24. Which was all the more remarkable for the fact that his first over had gone for 13.
Jadhav (29 off 16) and Irfan Pathan (19 off eight) cut loose and Ravi Rampaul, who conceded just 13 from his first three overs was hammered for 15. RP Singh, who never found his rhythm, gave up another 15 to give the Daredevils a fighting chance. But, ultimately it was all in vain.
ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE: CH Gayle, KL Rahul, V Kohli (capt), AB de Villiers, AB McDonald, KB Arun Karthik (wk), R Vinay Kumar, R Rampaul, RP Singh, JD Unadkat, J Syed Mohammad
DELHI DAREDEVILS: V Sehwag, DA Warner, DPMD Jayawardene (capt), MC Juneja, BJ Rohrer, KM Jadhav (wk), IK Pathan, M Morkel, S Nadeem, A Nehra, UT Yadav