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Delhi Capitals (DC) batting lineup returned to its usual self as they hammered Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at home to win the match by seven wickets with 20 balls to spare. Phil Salt stood out of the lot with his Indian Premier League (IPL) career-best 45-ball 87 to dominate the Faf du Plessis-led side. Salt was exceptional as he hit the bowlers all around the park and tackled spinners by going on the back foot. The win keeps David Warner-led DC alive in the tournament.
DC's run chase got off to an ideal start. Warner hit Mohammed Siraj for two fours in the first over. In the third over, Josh Hazlewood got hit for a four and a six by Salt. The onslaught continued. Siraj took a beating from Salt who hit him for two sixes and a four. In the same over, there was a heated exchange between Salt and Siraj. Hazlewood broke the partnership in the sixth over. Warner could not read the slower ball and got out. The southpaw scored 22 runs from 14 balls including three fours and one six. Warner and Salt shared a 60-run opening partnership, the highest for DC in the season. Mitchell Marsh got off the mark with a six to keep the momentum going. DC had 70/1 on the board after powerplay overs.
In the ninth over, Salt got to his second IPL half-century with a boundary. He took 28 deliveries to cross the 50-run mark. Mahipal Lomror in his first over took a beating from Salt who hit him for a six and a four. Harshal Patel got the breakthrough in the form of Marsh. The Australian scored 26 runs from 17 balls including three fours and one six. In the 13th over, Harshal got a hammering. First, Salt hit him for a six. Then Rilee Rossouw hit two sixes and one four in the over to take the score to 150. In the 16th over, Salt got bowled by leg-spinner Karn Sharma. He scored 87 runs from 45 balls including eight fours and six sixes. Axar Patel did not waste time and got off the mark with a six. In the 17th over, Rossouw finished the game with a massive six to guide his team home. The Proteas batter remained unbeaten for 35 runs from 22 balls including one four and three sixes.
Earlier, Du Plessis won the toss and opted to bat first. DC bowlers were economical in the first four overs. Du Plessis broke free in the fifth over with three boundaries off pacer Mukesh Kumar. The Proteas batter then hit Khaleel Ahmed for a six and a four. After powerplay overs, RCB were 51/0. The partnership continued but Virat Kohli and Du Plessis could not hit big in the middle overs. Meanwhile, Kohli became the first batter to score 7,000 IPL runs. At halfway stage, RCB were 79/0.
The partnership was broken by Marsh in the 11th over. Du Plessis scored 45 runs from 32 balls including five fours and one six. Marsh then got Glenn Maxwell for a golden duck. They crossed the 100-run mark in the 14th over. Lomror targetted Kuldeep Yadav hitting him for a four and a six. Kohli got to his 50th IPL fifty from 42 balls. Mukesh got the better of Kohli as he got caught at short fine leg. He scored 55 runs from 46 balls including five fours. Lomror hit big in the slog overs. Dinesh Karthik joined him in the middle too with a six in the 18th over. In the penultimate over, Lomror got to his maiden IPL fifty from 26 balls. In the final over, Khaleel got the wicket of Karthik (11) but got hit for a six next ball by new batter Anuj Rawat. RCB posted a fighting total of 181/4.
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