in Bengaluru on Sunday. (PTI)
Bengaluru: Riding on opener Quinton De Kock’s heroics, Delhi Daredevils (DD) on Sunday defeated the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the group stage match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Chinnaswami Stadium here.
Leading the run chase for the visitors, De Kock hit a superbly-crafted century (108 of 51 balls), first century in IPL 9, with 15 fours and three sixes to guide his team to win the match by seven wickets in 19.1 overs. The South African southpaw was a beauty to watch and a virtuoso in action with his boundaries zooming all over the ground, especially his masterclass off-side shots.
From an asking rate of 87 runs in 48 balls after 12 overs, the going got so easy that DD only needed 21 runs in 26 balls by the 17th over and just one run off the final six balls.
Karun Nair, unbeaten at 54 off 42 balls with six fours and one six, stood by De Kock to see the victory in the 20th over.
Though DD started off their chase of 192 runs shakily, losing Shreyas Iyer (0) and Sanju Samson (9) early, the win was comprehensive and facile.
David Wiese took a spectacular catch to get rid of Iyer in the first over off S. Aravind, but from then on there was no looking back for DD, with De Kock and Nair in action.
Nair reached his half century in the 17th over off 37 balls with six fours and a sixer.
Shane Watson emerged the most successful bowler for RCB, claiming two wickets for 25 runs in his quota of four overs while Sreenath Aravind was the only other bowler 1/32 to claim a wicket.
Earlier skipper Virat Kohli, with a fighting 79 off 48 balls, was the chief architect of RCB’s 191/5 in 20 overs. (IANS)