De Villiers gives RCB six-wicket win over DD

AB de Villiers blasted 90 not out as Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB)defeated Delhi Daredevils (DD) by six wickets yesterday to end theirtwo-match losing streak in the Indian Premier League (IPL).AfterRishabh Pant (85) and Shreyas Iyer (52) helped Delhi post a fighting174/5, de Villiers, who struck 10 fours and five sixes during his39-ball unbeaten knock, single-handedly guided the hosts to the crucialwin with two overs to spare.South African de Villiers shared a63-run third-wicket stand with captain Virat Kohli (30) at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium as RCB posted their second win in five games.RCBwere in trouble after losing openers Quinton de Kock and Manan Vohra(2), with the latter failing to justify his inclusion in place ofSarfraz Khan.De Villiers dished out a batting masterclass as hewhacked Shahbaz Nadeem for five fours, while medium pacers Harshal Pateland Chris Morris too failed to control the right-handed batsman.With78 required of eight overs, Harshal conceded two sixes and a four tobring the target down to 60 off seven overs - it tilted the match infavour of the hosts. In the following over, de Villiers hit RahulTewatia for a six as the bowler ended up conceding 11 runs.In the15th over bowled by Morris, de Villiers was again on the attack, hittinghis compatriot for a six and a four to reduce the asking rate underseven. Afterwards, it proved to be easy for them to secure the win.Following the win, RCB are now fifth in the points table, while Delhi are at the bottom with a single win in five games.Earlierin the first innings of the match between two bottom-placed teams, Iyerand Pant shared a 75-run partnership for the third wicket as Delhirecovered from a poor start.Put into bat, Delhi were off to a poorbeginning as both the openers Jason Roy (5) and Gautam Gambhir (3) wereback in the dug-out with the scorecard read just 23 runs in 5.4 overs.Whilepacer Umesh Yadav dismissed Gambhir, spinner Yuzvendra Chahal cleanbowled Roy. Pant and Iyer eased the pressure on the visitors as theytook time to settle down before finding occasional big shots.SpinnerWashington Sundar finally broke Delhi’s momentum, dismissing Iyer, whowas looking good, in the 14th over with Delhi’s score being 98/3. Iyerdeparted after hitting four fours and three sixes.With the addition of just another seven runs in Delhi’ scorecard, Chahal sent back incoming batter Glenn Maxwell (4).However, Pant kept the fight alive for his side and slammed 18 runs off a Chris Woakes’ 18th over to lift Delhi to 163/4.Tryingto go big in the final over, Pant was finally dismissed by CoreyAnderson. The Delhi batter’s 48-ball 85-run knock was guided by sixboundaries and seven sixes.Tewatia’s 13 off 9 for Delhi helped the visitors reach a fighting total.For RCB, Chahal was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 2/22 while Umesh, Anderson and Sundar bagged one wicket apiece.BriefScores: Delhi Daredevils: 174/5 (Rishabh Pant 85, Shreayas Iyer 52;Yuzvendra Chahal 2/22) vs Royal Challengers Bangalore: 176/4 in 18 overs(AB de Villiers 90 not out, Virat Kohli 30; Glenn Maxwell 1/13).