RCB beat DC to extend unbeaten away run

New Delhi, April 27: Krunal Pandya recorded his first fifty in IPL since 2016, helping Royal Challengers Bengaluru pull off a six-wicket win over Delhi Capitals on a challenging Feroz Shah Kotla track here on Sunday.
Krunal (73 not out), who has part of every IPL season since his debut in 2016, paced his innings perfectly while batting alongside chase master Virat Kohli (51).
The duo shared a 119-run stand off 84 balls as RCB chased down 163 in 18.3 overs to extend their unbeaten run away from home.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru bowlers put a squeeze on Delhi Capitals in the middle overs through Josh Hazlewood and the spinners to limit the home team to 162 for six.
For RCB, it was their seventh win in 10 games while DC suffered only their third loss in nine matches. Both teams are on course to make the play-offs.
At 26 for three, RCB felt the heat before Krunal and Kohli bailed them out.
In his maiden season for RCB, Krunal has made valuable contributions with both bat and ball.
On Sunday night, Kohli played the perfect anchor as Krunal came up with timely hits on a difficult surface to deliver a fine win for his team. His straight hit through the line off Mukesh Kumar and an aerial drive over cover off the wily Kuldeep Yadav stood out among his four sixes.
Kohli’s consistency has been remarkable this season and the knock against DC was his sixth 50-plus score in 10 innings. The highlight of his solid effort was the straight drive off Mitchell Starc.
The night, however, belonged to Krunal who collected only his second 50-plus score in 116 IPL innings.
Earlier, KL Rahul (41) was the top-scorer for DC but it was Tristian Stubbs (34) who helped the hosts post a fighting total.
RCB put the opposition in to bat, expecting better batting conditions during the run chase.
Faf du Plessis (22) returned from injury to join Abhishek Porel (28) at the top of the order but it was the latter who ensured DC reached 52 for two in the powerplay.
Lead RCB pacer Hazlewood, who has been relentless with his hard lengths, took three balls to get the breakthrough as he cramped Porel to have him caught behind down the leg side.
The spinners got into operation after the powerplay and overs 7-10 was the phase when RCB were able to stem the flow of runs, conceding just 20 runs off the four overs from Suyash Sharma and Krunal, who got rid of the struggling du Plessis in that period.
It was only towards the end of the innings that DC managed to get some momentum, all thanks to the blitzkrieg from Stubbs.
The 18th and 19th over from Hazlewood and Dayal yielded 17 and 19 runs, enabling Delhi Capitals to cross the 160-run mark. (PTI)