Delhi Capitals beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by the colossal margin of 59 runs in Match 19 of IPL 2020, at Dubai. For Delhi, Prithvi Shaw (42 in 23 balls) and Rishabh Pant (37 and 25) both contributed, but the defining onslaught came from Marcus Stoinis, whose 26-ball 53 not out helped Delhi reach 196/4. They then restricted Bangalore to 137/9, with Kohli (43 in 39) being the only batsman to reach a score of 20 or more.
Michael Vaughan had high words of praise for Stoinis in My11 Circle Cricbuzz Live: “He had never quite done it. He had never quite got to the level you would think he can … That is his best innings I have seen … It was a masterclass in power hitting, he also played a couple of nice finesse shots as well.”
Vaughan also lauded Pant, with whom Stoinis added 89 for the fourth wicket off 41 balls: “We spoke about how Rishabh has become a mature player over the course of the tournament. He played a kind of second string in the partnership by just knocking the ball around and making sure Stoinis get back on strike… Rishabh is maturing as a player.”
Bangalore’s sole resistance with ball came from Washington Sundar. On his 21st birthday, Sundar bowled three overs in the Powerplay en route excellent figures of 4-0-20-0. Shaun Pollock hailed Sundar’s performance as “absolutely superb”, adding how “he has been the one guy who has benefitted from this tournament … The ground in Bengaluru is just so small that even a mishit will carry. Now, with the bigger boundaries, he has got the confidence.”
Vaughan pointed out biggest problem with the Bangalore batting line-up: “Virat and AB [de Villiers], they are so reliant on that powerhouse, brilliant players that they are. [They] just need a little more help from around them. It was a typical RCB performance, I’m afraid. You cannot compete in T20 cricket with just one or two players arriving, you need six, seven, eight.”
He mentioned Bangalore’s “not good enough” bowling, which is likely to push their target beyond the par score more often than not. Their bowlers are likely to struggle, he predicted.
He also elaborated on the difference between the two teams: “You look at Delhi today, they looked like a real team. Everything was together, they had good combinations with the bowling, with the batting, they moved well in the field. They were like chalk and cheese.”
The win means that Delhi Capital has now jumped to the top of the table with 8 points from 5 games while Royal Challengers Bangalore drop to third in the table with 6 points from 5 games.
