IPL 2021: Match 56, RCB vs DC – Who Said What

The 56^th match of the IPL 2021 saw the light of the day between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Capitals. Though DC had nothing at stake and were sure of finishing at the top slot, they lost the thriller by seven wickets. Winning the toss, RCB decided to take up the field with the ball first and DC went on to post 164 runs on the board.

Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan set DC for a heavenly start as they scored 48 and 43 runs respectively on the board. Shimron Hetmyer added 29 off 22 at the end and helped his team breach the 160-run mark. Mohammed Siraj picked two wickets for his team while he maintained the economy of 6.20.

Srikar Bharat shines the best for RCB

When RCB came up to chase, openers folded cheaply but what was followed next by Srikar Bharat and Glenn Maxwell was a dreamy affair. While Bharat posted 78* off 52, Maxwell chipped in with a classy fifty (51* off 33). There were 15 runs left for RCB to take up in the final over, what the two batters did was unbelievable and Bharat’s six at the last ball was the cherry on the top.

He was eventually declared as the player of the match. Anrich Nortje took two wickets while conceding 24 runs in four overs. He turned out to be the best bowler from DC’s bowling artillery.

Losing skipper, Rishabh Pant said:

We know how important fielding is in T20s. If you field the way we did, you deserve to lose. We also lost too many wickets while batting. But we will have to field better next time, I guess. It was difficult for the fast bowlers with the dew, but the fielding has to support the bowling unit. We are not feeling great because you want to win these kind of matches.

Winning skipper, Virat Kohli said:

Unbelievable game. We had nothing to lose, but it was a competitive game which is always the case in the IPL. We have beaten them twice now. The way AB batted in the beginning and then with KS and Maxwell in the end was unbelievable. The reality was that we had to win by 160 runs, and we thought that there could be a collapse or something. We thought of it the other way aruond. This gives us the confidence that we can pull off a game from any situation. We haven’t chased much in this tournament. Number three hasn’t been an issue. We wanted to give Christian some time, he was batting really well in the middle. We took that chance and it didn’t come off. We knew KS was a guy who could come in at three at any stage. I think we need to sharpen up in the field. Sometimes the boundaries that go at crucial stages, could be critical. You need to be switched on always. A win like this gives you the confidence. We have played well in Sharjah. We have been able to handle the conditions and keep the opporition in check if things have gotten away from us. We have the experience already and we need to utilize it as much as possible to keep moving on in this tournament.

Player of the match, KS Bharat said-

Great wining on the last ball, and an incredible feeling to finish it off. Maxi and I just kept telling each other to watch that ball till the end. I wasn’t nervous at any point and I was just looking for the right ball and the opportunity to hit it out. I have worked hard and nothing comes easy. This will give us a lot of confidence.