After his match-defining cameo, Delhi Capitals all-rounder Sherfane Rutherford played his part in two crucial dismissals.
Bangalore all but out
After his match-defining cameo, Delhi Capitals all-rounder Sherfane Rutherford played his part in two crucial dismissals. First he snapped up a smart catch that saw the back of Royal Challengers Bangalore’s captain Virat Kohli. Four overs later, he returned as a bowler to bag AB de Villiers’s prized wicket. These twin scalps effectively derailed Bangalore’s chase. Set a target of 188 to stay alive in the IPL, Bangalore, who have recently seen a mini revival, fell 16 runs short to virtually crash out of the race. Delhi, on the other hand, went top of the table by virtue of this result and qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 2012.
Delhi were electric in the field, and two spectacular catches by Axar Patel and Shikhar Dhawan also played a part. In the end, though, it was Delhi’s potent all-round bowling attack that Bangalore found difficult to handle. Left-arm spinner Patel and leggie Amit Mishra took three wickets between them while giving away only 55 runs in eight overs. Seamers Ishant Sharma, Kagiso Rabada and Rutherford, too, chipped away with wickets at regular intervals as Delhi notched up their eighth win of the season.
After their bowlers gave away 46 runs in the last three overs, helping the home team post a comfortable above-par score, Bangalore task was clear (if not straightforward): blast away in the powerplay. Their opener, Parthiv Patel, has been RCB’s standout player in an otherwise dour campaign. Patel’s strike-rate of 148 in the powerplay overs this season has been better than the likes of Quinton De Kock, David Warner and Jos Buttler. Not surprisingly, Patel got a measure of Delhi’s bowling at the outset, crunching seven boundaries and a six to take the visitors to 63 in just 5.4 overs. That was short-lived as Delhi clawed their way back following Patel’s exit for 39. Kohli, who was happy to sit back and watch Patel’s early onslaught, tried to shuffle the gears but perished on 23, which put Bangalore’s middle-order under the pump.
Rutherford comes to the party
Rutherford landed up at Feroz Shah Kotla last month without his cricketing gear, which was apparently stuck in transit. Playing with a borrowed bat on his first day at the nets, he managed to impress Delhi’s head coach Ricky Ponting with his big-hitting prowess. Dubbed as the left-handed Andre Russell, he hit the headlines during a CPL match last year when he bludgeoned six sixes for the Guyana Amazon Warriors. His efforts piqued considerable interest from franchises at the IPL auction last year, before Delhi bought him for Rs 2 crore.
Despite the 20-year-old’s reputation, he has got fairly limited playing time to showcase his full repertoire in his debut season. Playing only his third IPL match, Rutherford on Sunday showed the hype was real. Walking in to bat in the 16th over, with Delhi in a spot of bother at 129/4, the young Guyanese unfurled some violent shots that gave his team the desired impetus towards the end of the innings.
Rutherford favoured the mid-wicket region, a spot where he smacked a brace of sixes against Marcus Stoinis and Umesh Yadav. He ended the innings with a stunning one-handed six off Navdeep Saini to take his personal tally to an unbeaten 13-ball 28. His 46-run sixth-wicket partnership with Axar Patel boosted Delhi at a time when they were threatening to lose the momentum provided by Shikhar Dhawan and captain Shreyas Iyer’s half-centuries.
Dhawan, Iyer set the tone
Dhawan has had quite a torrid time in the longest format and has even struggled in the blue India jersey in recent times. However, a series of low scores have not dampened his spirits. Even in this IPL, his travails have been well documented — his timing and those inimitable crisp drives seemed to have deserted him. However, everytime when the chips are down, the 33-year-old has a knack of getting himself back into the groove.
Since that unbeaten 97 against the Kolkata Knight Riders more than a fortnight ago, Dhawan has roared back into form, giving Delhi solid starts upfront. That was also the case on a hot Sunday afternoon at the Kotla. After an imperious 35-run opening stand with Prithvi Shaw that came in just a shade over 3 overs, Dhawan found an able ally in captain Shreyas Iyer. Together, they stitched 68 runs that was the cornerstone of Delhi’s innings. The opener departed after reaching his half-century, perishing while chasing a slow, wide delivery from Yuzvendra Chahal. Iyer, who batted with a great deal of poise wi
After his match-defining cameo, Delhi Capitals all-rounder Sherfane Rutherford played his part in two crucial dismissals. First he snapped up a smart catch that saw the back of Royal Challengers Bangalore’s captain Virat Kohli. Four overs later, he returned as a bowler to bag AB de Villiers’s prized wicket. These twin scalps effectively derailed Bangalore’s chase. Set a target of 188 to stay alive in the IPL, Bangalore, who have recently seen a mini revival, fell 16 runs short to virtually crash out of the race. Delhi, on the other hand, went top of the table by virtue of this result and qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 2012.
Delhi were electric in the field, and two spectacular catches by Axar Patel and Shikhar Dhawan also played a part. In the end, though, it was Delhi’s potent all-round bowling attack that Bangalore found difficult to handle. Left-arm spinner Patel and leggie Amit Mishra took three wickets between them while giving away only 55 runs in eight overs. Seamers Ishant Sharma, Kagiso Rabada and Rutherford, too, chipped away with wickets at regular intervals as Delhi notched up their eighth win of the season.
After their bowlers gave away 46 runs in the last three overs, helping the home team post a comfortable above-par score, Bangalore task was clear (if not straightforward): blast away in the powerplay. Their opener, Parthiv Patel, has been RCB’s standout player in an otherwise dour campaign. Patel’s strike-rate of 148 in the powerplay overs this season has been better than the likes of Quinton De Kock, David Warner and Jos Buttler. Not surprisingly, Patel got a measure of Delhi’s bowling at the outset, crunching seven boundaries and a six to take the visitors to 63 in just 5.4 overs. That was short-lived as Delhi clawed their way back following Patel’s exit for 39. Kohli, who was happy to sit back and watch Patel’s early onslaught, tried to shuffle the gears but perished on 23, which put Bangalore’s middle-order under the pump.
Rutherford comes to the party
Rutherford landed up at Feroz Shah Kotla last month without his cricketing gear, which was apparently stuck in transit. Playing with a borrowed bat on his first day at the nets, he managed to impress Delhi’s head coach Ricky Ponting with his big-hitting prowess. Dubbed as the left-handed Andre Russell, he hit the headlines during a CPL match last year when he bludgeoned six sixes for the Guyana Amazon Warriors. His efforts piqued considerable interest from franchises at the IPL auction last year, before Delhi bought him for Rs 2 crore.
Despite the 20-year-old’s reputation, he has got fairly limited playing time to showcase his full repertoire in his debut season. Playing only his third IPL match, Rutherford on Sunday showed the hype was real. Walking in to bat in the 16th over, with Delhi in a spot of bother at 129/4, the young Guyanese unfurled some violent shots that gave his team the desired impetus towards the end of the innings.
Rutherford favoured the mid-wicket region, a spot where he smacked a brace of sixes against Marcus Stoinis and Umesh Yadav. He ended the innings with a stunning one-handed six off Navdeep Saini to take his personal tally to an unbeaten 13-ball 28. His 46-run sixth-wicket partnership with Axar Patel boosted Delhi at a time when they were threatening to lose the momentum provided by Shikhar Dhawan and captain Shreyas Iyer’s half-centuries.
Dhawan, Iyer set the tone
Dhawan has had quite a torrid time in the longest format and has even struggled in the blue India jersey in recent times. However, a series of low scores have not dampened his spirits. Even in this IPL, his travails have been well documented — his timing and those inimitable crisp drives seemed to have deserted him. However, everytime when the chips are down, the 33-year-old has a knack of getting himself back into the groove.
Since that unbeaten 97 against the Kolkata Knight Riders more than a fortnight ago, Dhawan has roared back into form, giving Delhi solid starts upfront. That was also the case on a hot Sunday afternoon at the Kotla. After an imperious 35-run opening stand with Prithvi Shaw that came in just a shade over 3 overs, Dhawan found an able ally in captain Shreyas Iyer. Together, they stitched 68 runs that was the cornerstone of Delhi’s innings. The opener departed after reaching his half-century, perishing while chasing a slow, wide delivery from Yuzvendra Chahal. Iyer, who batted with a great deal of poise wi