Match 56 of the Indian T20 league 2021 saw Bangalore defeat Delhi by seven wickets in a game that went down to the wire. After restricting Delhi to 164, Bangalore stuttered in their chase before Srikar Bharat and Glenn Maxwell showed nerves of steel to finish off the game on the last ball. Let’s look at the major talking points from the game.
Prithvi Shaw’s timely return to form
After a string of poor scores in the UAE leg, Prithvi Shaw’s return to form ahead of the playoffs will be a big relief for the Delhi side. Shaw scored 11 against Hyderabad, 10 against Rajasthan, 6 against Mumbai and 18 against Chennai before finally finding his form against Bangalore. After starting his innings cautiously instead of going for big shots from the word go, Shaw accelerated his strike rate and scored a 31-ball 48 laced with 4 fours and 2 sixes. The opening batsman now has more than 400 runs this season at a strike rate of 157.25 and will be looking to produce another good knock to take Delhi to the finals.
A good start for Delhi
Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan shared a partnership of 88 runs for the first wicket. While Shaw missed a half-century by two runs, Dhawan scored a 35-ball 43, hitting 3 fours and 2 sixes. Dhawan is Delhi’s highest run-scorer this season, having more than 500 runs at an average of 41.84 and a strike rate of 128.00. After a couple of poor knocks in the recent games, Dhawan will be happy to find his mojo back at the right time. But Delhi could be in for a big setback if the shoulder injury Dhawan sustained during the match after being hurt by a beamer rules him out of the next match. Steve Smith served as Dhawan’s substitution in the second innings.
Shimron Hetmyer chips in with crucial runs down the order
After a good opening stand, Delhi’s middle-order lost the plot. Rishabh Pant scored 10 off 8 and Shreyas Iyer scored a run a ball 18 before Shimron Hetmyer hit 29 off 22 with the help of two fours and as many sixes. From 88-0, Delhi went on to score only 164 for 5 in 20 overs. Only 66 runs for five wickets came off the last 10 overs and 20 off the last 16 balls as Mohammed Siraj took two wickets and conceded 25 runs in his four overs.
Harshal Patel gets his 30th wicket
Bangalore got their first wicket of the game after Harshal Patel sent back Shikhar Dhawan in the 10th over. For Patel, though, this was his 30th wicket of the season. The medium-pacer is now only two wickets away from the highest wicket tally for a single Indian T20 League season. Chennai’s Dwayne Bravo has 32.
Bangalore’s openers score four runs combined
Bangalore opener Virat Kohli’s stay on the crease lasted only 12 minutes after he fell for 4 runs off 8 balls to Anrich Nortje in the second over. This is Kohli’s second successive single-digit score this season; with only five runs coming in the last game against Hyderabad. His young opening partner Devdutt Padikkal, on the other hand, walked back without scoring a run.
A magnificent innings by Srikar Bharat
After two back to back wickets, Srikar Bharat produced a top-notch unbeaten knock that eventually took Bangalore over the line. Coming in to bat at no. 3, KS Bharat scored unbeaten 78 off 52 balls, hitting three fours and four sixes. Eight runs were required off the last 2 balls, and the wicketkeeper-batsman from Andhra Pradesh took Bangalore to a win with a last-ball six. This is the 28-year-old’s debut Indian T20 league season, and in seven games so far, he averages 45 and has a strike rate of 130. It is safe to say that KS Bharat has cemented his place in the team as the no. 3 batsman.
Glenn Maxwell’s half-century
Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell, bought by Bangalore for Rs. 14.25 crores, scored an unbeaten 51 off 33 balls, finding the boundary eight times. Maxwell and KS Bharat’s unbeaten partnership of 79 runs from 45 balls was what changed the game in Bangalore’s favour. With an average of 45.27 and a strike rate of 147.33 this season, Maxwell has done enough justice to his hefty price tag.
Rishabh Pant’s reaction after losing the toss
Delhi captain Rishabh Pant’s funny reaction after losing the toss to Bangalore captain Virat Kohli made for a talking point on social media. After Kohli, who is generally the one losing the toss won it, Pant mock cried and gave social media another meme fest. Watch Pant’s reaction here –
What next for Bangalore and Delhi?
Delhi won 10 of their 14 league games to occupy the top spot on the points table. Bangalore, on the other hand, won nine games to grab the third spot. Delhi will now face second-placed Chennai in Qualifier 1 on October 10 in Dubai. The team that loses this game gets another go to make the finals by clashing against the loser of the eliminator 1.
Bangalore will face Kolkata in Eliminator 1 to be played in Sharjah on October 11. The winner of this match will face the loser of Qualifier 1.
This will be the sixth time Delhi have made it to the playoffs of the tournament. Bangalore, who qualified for the playoffs after four years in 2020, will be hoping to play their fourth final and win their first trophy.
Two matches at the same time – a first in the tournament
As per the Indian T20 League Governing Council’s decision, the two final league stage games were played concurrently at 7:30 PM IST instead of the usual double-header where one game begins at 3.30 PM IST. This was the first time in the tournament’s history that two matches went live at the same time. While Bangalore played Delhi, Mumbai faced off Hyderabad. The matches were live on Star Sports 2, Star Sports 3, Star Sports First and Star Gold 2, and also on Hotstar.
Also read: Who is the Best Death Over Specialist Batsman in IPL?
