Bengaluru, April 18
Delhi Capitals acting skipper KL Rahul hailed the finishing prowess of Tristan Stubbs and David Miller, stating the dugout remained calm despite a tense final-over finish, giving them a six-wicket victory over Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday.
Chasing 176 on a surface that grew increasingly sluggish, DC reached the target with a ball to spare, exorcising the ghosts of that one-run loss suffered at the hands of the Gujarat Titans. While birthday boy Rahul (57) and Stubbs (60 not out) laid the foundation, it was Miller, who provided the finishing flourish by smashing Romario Shepherd two sixes and a four in the 20th over when 15 runs were required.
"No, there was faith in Stubbs and Miller. They do this on a daily basis for South Africa and franchise cricket. So, we also knew that the last two overs were going to be a gamble for RCB as well.
"We knew that probably Romario Shepherd would bowl or maybe Suyash Sharma would bowl, which gives our batters a good chance to hit two sixes in the last two overs. So yeah, ideally we wouldn't have wanted it to go till the 20th over, but we'll take the win," said Rahul, coming in for Axar Patel, who retired hurt due to cramps, in the post-match presentation ceremony.
Earlier in the chase, DC faced a crisis after losing three wickets within the Power-play. Rahul explained that his strategy was to remain aggressive rather than retreating into a defensive shell, which could have allowed the required run rate to spiral beyond their reach.
"The wicket did a little bit early on. I could see Virat and Phil Salt not happy with the way the ball was coming on. Us losing three wickets in the first six overs didn't make it easy for us. So yeah, it was, I think all in all a really good cricket game.
"The conversation was to continue to play good cricket shots and see how we can find boundaries and how we can still put the pressure on the bowlers. We didn't want to go into our shell, and then the run rate keeps climbing up; it gets harder and harder towards the end.
"We saw that when we bowled as well, when there was a little bit of reverse swing as well, and the opposition had some really good death bowlers as well. So we didn't want to take it too deep. We just wanted to stay in the moment, take it one over at a time, and try to put pressure on the bowlers. He hit some good shots. I hit some good shots. As it turned out, it did go quite deep," added Rahul.
DC are now in fourth place in the points table with six points from five games. After breaking the two-game losing streak, DC will look to continue the momentum when they take on Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on April 21.
- IANS
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