Kohli and de Villiers combine to knock Daredevils out of contention
Royal Challengers' stalwarts made a combined 142 of the 182 they required to collect their fourth win so far
Royal Challengers' stalwarts made a combined 142 of the 182 they required to collect their fourth win so far
Commentator: Sreshth Shah
11.51pm That's all the cricket for tonight, but head right over to ESPN.in to get your football fix. Real Madrid will be in La Liga action shortly, hoping to get a good workout before their Champions League final. We'll see you again for more IPL action tomorrow. Till then, time to say good bye. Hope you enjoyed ESPNcricinfo's coverage. I sure loved bringing it to all of you. Bye bye!
dev: "maybe DD can now give chances to manjot kalra, gurkeerat singh and jayant yadav ?"
Turvina: "I reckon it was a great idea to put Iyer in a captain. It's an investment for the future. Whilst not tactically astute now, it bodes well for the future of the Delhi franchise and that of Indian cricket. RCB did the same a few years ago with Kohli. Everyone has to start somewhere. "
Srinivas Vaddi: "Love this bromance between AB and Virat. They are both world class batsmen, the best in the world by a far far distance and they always have immense respect each other! Legendary Stuff!"
11.40pm Time for the presentation now. Here we go...
Virat Kohli, the winning captain: "The table is wide open, right time to get the win. Great feeling, that we had more support than the Delhi team. We were not clinical with the ball, but these guys played well. The chase, however, was ideal. Bowling first is better in this stage, because it's easier for batsmen to take responsibility. You can almost set up the game how you like. That's what works for our boys. Really happy tonight. It's lovely batting with AB. We've done this many times in the past. It was a stiff chase, but in the mid-innings break AB told me 'don't worry, we'll get this', and that helped me get in the zone. I don't need to say much, been an honour for me to bat with him. I was disappointed getting out since we had the run-rate in control. Wanted to finish it with three overs to spare, and get the net run-rate up. It cost us 10-12 balls, the victory."
AB de Villiers is the Man of the Match. Says: "It felt weird, tonight, but the Mishra boundary helped my innings get off the mark. I started off slowly, and luckily Virat was batting well, so it helped me. Felt much better after 10-15 deliveries. Lamichhane's only 17, it's admirable. Wonder how these youngsters do it. Great for Indian cricket, great for cricket overall. The team, at the end of the day, motivates me. The franchise loves excellence, there's nothing better than taking the team across the line for the boys."
Ganesh Natrajan: "@Srinivas: Gambhir could have stayed on and tried to improve his batting. It was only a temporary loss of form which could have returned anytime. It was his captaincy that was really required, which DD lost out on when he decided to leave halfway."
Dhaval : "Huge moment for 2 associate countries today. Ireland and Nepal. And look which countries gave them that opportunity. India and Pakistan. Huge day for Cricket. "
Dixith Panyala: "The problem was with Gambhir the batsman, not Gambhir the captain. If a player can't find place in xi as a batsman, he can't be included just for captaincy. He was becoming a liability in the team and hence the decision. Fair and square!!!"
Nikhil: "Why was Abhishek Sharma's left arm spin not used against Kohli & ABD" -- your guess is as good as mine, Nik
Srinivas Vaddi: "@Ganesh. I believe that GG thought he was not doing a very good job with the bat either. There was no doubt about his captaincy. He was always tactically brilliant. But the thing that was holding him back was his batting. The alternative was to choose a senior player as captain instead of putting too much pressure on Iyer's shoulders."
Advait: "Interesting,this week, yesterday the 1st n 2nd placed teams fought each other, today the 3rd n 4th and 7th n 8th and tomorrow 5th n 6th."
Ganesh Natrajan: "I feel the writing on the wall for DD was clear the day Gambhir decided to throw in the towel as captain. It was unfair to put the responsibility on young Shreyas's shoulders. Gambhir as the senior player should have stayed on as captain and provided leadership. Full marks to Shreyas for trying though. He had to do a difficult job under very difficult circumstances. "
Mohsin khan: "Alex hales got out on 99 and i think in his debut match also"
manoj chandra: "answer is alex hales " -- yep! Good one.
Pratheek: "Sreshth man your Commentary is as good as your quizzing!! Mate Time for Some Quiz Question of the day from you.." -- Thanks, Pratheek. While we wait for the presentation, answer this: who is the only T20I batsman to be out on 99?
Anand V: "ABD may have edged out Virat in the end, but the King should be MoM for making things look easy even as ABD was struggling."
Kapil: "Boult again under par for me. Think he has gone for 9-10 rpo almost every game. DD missed Rabada and their overseas players have won them ONE game, Roy against MI, rest have been passengers. Shanker needs to develop more hitting power and surely, Harshal isn't good for this level. And DD surely need a different captain. Iyer either needs to learn to play bold and take tough/risky calculated decisions else he can't win at this level"
11.30pm RCB's sixth win in a row at the Kotla as they stay alive for playoff contention. It was a classic RCB win tonight, with Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers really putting on a show for us. Their 100-run stand set up RCB's chase, but it wouldn't have been a game without Rishabh Pant's excellent fifty and Abhishek Sharma's late blitz with the bat. And hey, who can forget Sandeep Lamichhane's debut tonight. An evening worth remembering for him despite the loss. Reactions coming soon.
Shreyas Iyer, the losing captain: "With the start we thought, I thought 180 was more than enough. Unfortunately, we are just not able to defend totals. Lots of positives with the bat, but can't execute bowling plans. Not feeling any pressure, because I am able to bat very well. But today was one of those bad days when I couldn't connect anything. About pressure, you can't just control it. The only thing you can do is keep scoring runs. Don't want to take names, but I do like to talk to my coaches, so I can come back stronger in the next game. We are making 3-4 changes per game now, so it's all about setting our team for next year. We can just smile and move on."
Mandeep Singh: "Enjoyed that victory a lot. Very happy. We haven't been able to finish close games properly, but that's how it goes. Virat and AB made it look so easy. I found it difficult to bat, low and slow, but they made it so easy. Virat's shot over cover was the best shot. We're feeling good, feeling positive about next few games. If we win the next three, we're definitely in for qualification."
Vinay: "ABD started slow scored 12 of 10.. ends with 72 off 37.. what a player.."
One run to win
Ladey Chapagain: "@Sreshth Even if spectators are moving, we are not moving unless our comments are published."
Ashmal Khot: "So many expert comments here on espn cricinfo.... The coaches and selectors should sometimes take a look here, they might get some help"
Spectators can be seen leaving the ground
Royal Challengers' stalwarts made a combined 142 of the 182 they required to collect their fourth win so far
Feeding off an in-form Virat Kohli at the other end, the South African brought up his 26th IPL half-century, and steered RCB home in a tall chase
Where did Delhi Daredevils' latest teenaged sensation come from?
Royal Challengers Bangalore will be keen to eliminate one rival for the playoff race, on Saturday