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DC cruised to a crushing win over RCB with Phil Salt playing a fiery innings of 87 runs and middle-order batter Rilee Rossouw chipping in with an unbeaten 35.
Chasing 182 for victory, Delhi Capitals achieved the target for the loss of three wickets with 20 balls to spare.
Countering Siraj was the key and both Warner and Salt went after the RCB pace spearhead from the word go, smashing him for 28 runs in two overs. Siraj never came back to bowl his full quota.
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DC vs RCB IPL 2023: Philip Salt ruins Virat Kohli’s homecoming
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<p>Phil Salt’s blistering 45-ball 87 made the 182-run target look pedestrian in Delhi Capitals’ 7-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bangalore (Photo: BCCI/IPL)<br /></p>
<p>The game was dubbed as Delhi boy Virat Kohli’s homecoming but Salt stole the limelight from the Indian super star (Photo: BCCI/IPL)<br /></p>
<p>DC won with 3.2 overs to spare as Rilee Rossouw (35 not out off 22 balls) and Axar Patel (8 not out) saw them home (Photo: BCCI/IPL)<br /></p>
<p>Salt began with a 60-run partnership with DC captain David Warner (22) and then added 59 runs with Mitchell Marsh (26), who also took 2 wickets (Photo: BCCI/IPL)<br /></p>
<p>Salt’s knock blighted Kohli’s 55 and Mahipal Lomror’s 54 not out, which helped RCB to 181/4 after electing to bat first (Photo: BCCI/IPL)<br /></p>
<p>RCB skipper Faf Du Plessis scored 45 to take his tally of runs this season to 511 at the top of run-scorers’ list (Photo: BCCI/IPL)<br /></p>
<p>The game also saw a verbal duel between Salt and RCB pacer Mohammed Siraj after he was taken for runs by the DC opener (Photo: BCCI/IPL)<br /></p>
<p>Salt eventually fell to the leg-spin of Karn Sharma but by then he had done enough to ensure his team’s victory (Photo: BCCI/IPL)<br /></p>
<p>DC, who started the season with 5 defeats, moved a place up to be No. 9 but their playoff chances remain slim; RCB are No. 5 (Photo: BCCI/IPL)<br /></p>
“It was absolutely amazing. I thought 180 was possible (gettable score). The ball started skidding on nicely,” Warner, who scored 22 and shared a 60-run partnership with Salt, said at the post-match presentation.
“We said from the outset that we wanted to try and target Siraj. That was our intention. We knew he has been bowling really well and been their backbone so if we could just take him on, it would work in our favour.”
The DC skipper also praised veteran pacer Ishant Sharma for restricting the Bengaluru outfit to a chaseable total.
“Credit to the bowlers. They have been brilliant. They defended 130 twice. We have a strong Indian bowling unit with Ishant (Sharma) and Khaleel (Ahmed). And we are looking like a good team now.”
‘Player of the Match’ Salt, who smashed his highest score of the season, said he never takes the foot off the pedal once he gets going.
“We spoke about taking them on. We saw how good they were in Bangalore when they had their tails up. Something that’s a real strength of mine is that if I really get going I don’t take my foot off the pedal too often.”
South African middle-order batter Rossouw said his team played with a lot of “freedom” knowing well that losing another match could end their hopes in this edition of the IPL. He also said that it was a tricky wicket to bat on, but Salt played an amazing innings on a difficult pitch to win it for Capitals.
“It’s been amazing. It was a pretty tricky pitch. It was very slow and it was gripping, it was turning. I think Salt put in a blinder in the first six otherwise it was a tough wicket.
“We can’t lose another game so we are going out with the freedom to play the way we want to. Just keep going as far as possible and who knows, we get lucky and make the playoffs.”
RCB captain Faf du Plessis, said DC batters put his bowlers under a lot of pressure, forcing them to make mistakes.
“We have to give credit to their batters, they played really well. The pressure their batters put on the spinners led to some mistakes. They made our bowlers sit back a little bit after the powerplay. They pretty much broke the back of the chase in the first six, the way they were going.”
(With inputs from PTI)
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