IPL 2023: Philip Salt's wise batting sees DC triumph over RCB by 7 wickets; social media relieved
IPL 2023: Delhi Capitals has overcome the Royal Challengers Bangalore challenge by seven wickets in Delhi on Saturday, thanks to Philip Salt's wise batting that eclipsed Virat Kohli, while social media was relieved with the hosts' performance.
FollowIt was an improved batting display from Delhi Capitals (DC), as it overcame the difficult challenge from Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and won by seven wickets in Match 50 of the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Saturday. Philip Salt's classy knock of an unbeaten 90 overshadowed Virat Kohli's average innings of 55, while social media was eased by the hosts bouncing back.
After winning the coin toss, RCB opted to defend, as it was off to a prolific start, with openers Virat Kohli (55) and Faf du Plessis (45) putting on 82 runs before the latter fell to pacer Mitchell Marsh in the 11th over. After being down to 82/2 by the next ball, Kohli continued his sturdy innings with Mahipal Lomror (54*), as the two added 55 for the third wicket.
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At the same time, Kohli brought up his 49th IPL 50 before falling prey to medium-pacer Mukesh Kumar in the 16th, having scored his landmark 7,000th run in the event. Nevertheless, his dismissal hardly affected Bangalore, as Lomror and Dinesh Karthik (11) put on 35 for the fourth wicket before pacer Khaleel Ahmed dismissed the latter.
Thereon, the Royal Challengers went on to post an above-par total of 181/4. Marsh grabbed a couple of wickets for DC, while leg-spinner Axar Patel was quite economical. After the 19th over, DC brought Ripal Patel as the Impact Player (IP), replacing pacer Ishant Sharma, while in reply, it was also off to a strong start, putting on 60 by the fifth over of the PP before skipper David Warner (22) was sent packing by his Australian counterpart pacer Josh Hazlewood.
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Nonetheless, Delhi was not intimidated by Warner's dismissal, as fellow opener Philip Salt (87) and Mitchell Marsh (26) put on 59 for the second wicket to keep themselves firmly in the chase. While the former scored his maiden IPL half-century at this time, it was in the 11th when IP pacer Harshal Patel, who replaced Kedar Jadhav, got rid of the latter.
It was followed by a dominating 52-run partnership for the third wicket between Salt and Rossouw (35*) that broke the back of the RCB bowling. In the 16th, the former was knocked over by leg-spinner Karn Sharma. But, it was too late for the visitors, as the Capitals got the job done by seven wickets by the 17th. For Bangalore, besides the three wicket-takers, leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga was decently economical. The conquest takes DC to ninth place, whereas the Royal Challengers stay fifth.
