Bangalore, Delhi shine on Saturday

Our Correspondent

AB de Villiers guided Royal Challengers Bangalore to a seven-wicket victory against Rajasthan Royals in Match 33 of the Dream 11 IPL tournament on October 17.

Devdutt Padikkal (35 off 37 balls) and captain Virat Kohli (43 off 32) had a 79-run partnership that made up for the fall of Aaron Finch’s wicket. But the run rate was low, so when De Villiers came in to bat, Bangalore required 74 off 36 balls. The South African hat-trick of sixes in the 19th over, to Jayadev Unadkat’s bowling, won the match for RCB from a no-win situation.

Earlier, Rajasthan amassed 177/6 in 20 overs helped by opener Robin Uthappa (41 runs off 22), Jos Buttler (24 off 25) and skipper Steve Smith (57 off 36).

De Villiers earned the man of the match award for his magical 55 runs off 22 balls (6 sixes).

Dhawan’s day out

Shikhar Dhawan hit an unbeaten 101, his first century in IPL, to help Delhi Capitals register a five-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on October 17. Dhawan’s century had 14 fours and one six.

Though DC lost opener Prithvi Shaw for a duck and Ajinkya Rahane when the score was only 26, Dhawan and captain Shreyas Iyer brought the chase to a respectable score with their 68-run partnership. Axar Patel, who smashed three sixes in the last over of Ravindra Jadeja, helped Delhi reach 180 with a ball to spare.

Earlier, Chennai posted a decent total of 179 for 4 with Jadeja and Ambati Rayudu putting up a 50-run partnership.

DC moved to the top of the table with seven wins from nine games while Chennai remains at number six.