'They won because their intent was great ' - RP Singh analyses Delhi Capitals' convincing victory over RCB

Delhi Capitals put on a show at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Saturday with a decisive IPL 2023 win over the Royal Challengers Bangalore, clinching the contest by seven wickets. RCB won the toss and decided to bat first, scoring a total of 181 runs boosted by Virat Kohli’s 55 and Mahipal Lomror’s quickfire 54. Unfortunately, that total was not enough as the Capitals chased it with ease. Phillip Salt’s mega 45-ball 87-run knock helped them not only chase the target down but do it with 20 balls to spare. 

Delhi keeps their dreams of making the playoffs alive with this win, sitting with 8 points in 9th place, not far removed from fourth place which is Rajasthan with 10 points. They have a chance at making it into the playoffs, so JioCinema IPL expert RP Singh praised their intent and effort for this must-win game.

“The intent with which Delhi approached was very important. They had to win tonight’s match to keep themselves in the race, had they lost today, all the ifs and buts would have ended. Delhi won tonight because their intent was great. The top-order fired at the right time," said RP Singh.

Fans of the Delhi Capitals will be chanting Phillip Salt’s name tonight, as his knock made it possible to win this game after the early dismissal of David Warner. JioCinema IPL expert Zaheer Khan praised Salt’s tremendous contribution tonight.

“Whenever someone takes his name, it’s to talk about him as a prolific batsman. The question was whether he will get an opportunity, Prithvi Shaw’s form was low, Delhi had other issues, and the batting also had issues. They had to do something about it. The change has come. They could’ve gone with Mitchell Marsh as their opener, but they picked Phil Salt. He played his first matches in the middle order but came up tonight. I think they are definitely settled, something they’ll have to do. When Anrich Nortje comes back, we’ll have to see which player is benched. We’ll have to see what Delhi does going forward. With the way they’ve looked in recent matches, things are trending up for Delhi," said Zaheer.

Bangalore lost yet another game after posting a competitive target. JioCinema IPL expert Brett Lee reacted to RCB dropping another winnable game while praising Salt’s exploits on the night, “A little bit of an issue with RCB. A couple of bad losses, they should’ve probably won again tonight. They had enough runs on the board but just couldn’t get it done with the bowling.”

He added, “His (Phillip Salt) name always comes up as a player you have to have on your side, and he proved again exactly the reason why. 87 off 45 deliveries, took on the quicks too. I liked how he took on Mohammed Siraj, he wasn’t backing down to him. The great thing with Phil Salt is that he is aggressive but gets himself into a position where he can allow himself to be aggressive, which is the best place to bat.”