IPL 2023: Virat Kohli, Vijaykumar Vyshak lead the way, RCB leave Delhi Capitals waiting for first win

Kohli's 50 and wickets from Vyshak and Siraj helped RCB ease to a 23-run win over Delhi Capitals, whose top order once again capitulated at Chinnaswamy Stadium

At a venue traditionally suited to chasing, Delhi Capitals faltered on Saturday. Given the disastrous run of results they are enduring, their capitulation wasn’t surprising. In pursuit of 175 against Royal Challengers Bangalore at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday, Delhi finished on 151/9, suffering their fifth straight loss of the season.

Royal Challengers Bangalore's Virat Kohli celebrates his half-century (IndianPremierLeague twitter)

The margin of defeat was 23 runs, but the gap between the two teams was much greater. For RCB, Virat Kohli (50 off 33 balls), Mohammed Siraj (2/23) and Vijaykumar Vyshak (3/20) were the central characters. RCB now have two wins and two losses in four games.

The blame for Delhi's defeat should again be pinned on their batting unit, which has looked out of sorts all through this season. They lost four wickets within the first six overs, making the target appear far more daunting than it was.

For Delhi opener Prithvi Shaw, the season has gone from bad to worse. He was run out for a second-ball duck in the first over. Having hit the ball to the right of Anuj Rawat at cover, he attempted a quick single, but the RCB fielder dived to stop the ball and pulled off a direct hit. Shaw, not the swiftest of runners between the wickets, was found a few feet short of his crease after coming on as an Impact Player. His scores now read 12, 7, 0, 15, 0.

With the cheap dismissals of Mitchell Marsh (0) and Yash Dhull (1) reducing Delhi to 3/2, the pressure was on skipper David Warner again. He hit a hat-trick of fours against Siraj, but a miscued pull off Vyshak to Kohli at midwicket compounded Delhi's misery. While Manish Pandey (50 off 38 balls) enhanced his chances of retaining his place in the side with a half-century, there was little else of note in Delhi’s batting display.

Considering the batting-friendly conditions usually on offer in Bengaluru, RCB seemed intent on aiming for a high total after being sent in to bat, probably mindful of their failure to defend 212 in their previous game against Lucknow Super Giants.

In their very first over, Anrich Nortje’s length deliveries outside off-stump were smashed through the line with disdain by Kohli. The successive boundaries got Kohli going.

RCB skipper Faf du Plessis joined in soon, hitting boundaries off consecutive deliveries by left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman in the third over. In the next over, du Plessis skipped down the track and lofted left-arm spinner Axar Patel for six over long-on.

Just as Delhi were beginning to feel the heat though, a sensational catch by Aman Khan sent du Plessis back to the dugout. The runs flowed steadily for RCB before Kohli and left-hander Mahipal Lomror punished Rahman for 19 runs in the 10th over. Both batters hit a six each as Kohli brought up his half-century in 33 balls.

Immediately after reaching the milestone, he inexplicably hit a thigh-high full toss by Lalit Yadav to Dhull at deep midwicket. His eyes may have lit up on seeing the rank bad delivery, but he didn't get the connection desired to send the ball soaring over the boundary.

Glenn Maxwell came in and launched Yadav's gentle off-spin into the stands over long-on twice in three deliveries. With Lomror also chipping in, the hosts seemed set for a total in the range of 200 again. From 110/2 after 12 overs though, they slipped to 134/6 in 15 overs, Kuldeep Yadav dismissing Maxwell and Dinesh Karthik off consecutive balls. With Shahbaz Ahmed and Rawat stitching together an unbroken 40-run stand for the seventh wicket, RCB had an adequate total on board.