Delhi Capitals' South African trio of Lungi Ngidi, Tristan Stubbs and David Miller script a thrilling six wicket win over Royal Challengers Bengaluru, ending their losing streak with a last-over finish.
Key Points
- Delhi Capitals snapped a two-match losing streak with a six-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
- South African trio of Lungi Ngidi, Tristan Stubbs and David Miller played decisive roles.
- Ngidi struck early, dismissing Virat Kohli and finished with 2/39, using clever slower variations.
- Stubbs paced the chase smartly, earning Player of the Match honours.
The Delhi Capitals' South African troika of Lungi Ngidi, Tristan Stubbs and David Miller played their roles to perfection to help their team collect two points and end their two-game losing streak.
DC beat Royal Challengers Bengaluru by six wickets with one ball to spare to get back on the saddle.
DC's afternoon started on a fine note with toss going their way and captain Axar Patel opting to bowl first.
RCB Openers Phil Salt and Virat Kohli started briskly with Auqib Dar and Mukesh Sharma getting clobbered all over the Chinnaswamy stadium to the delight of RCB fans.
They brought up the 50 (52 for 0) in just the 5th over and were looking good for more.
DC Skipper Axar Patel then drew out his trump card, calling on Ngidi and the South African paceman obliged.
He struck gold on the very first ball of his spell as Kohli was done in by the slower, scrambled seam delivery. He danced down the track and tried to go over the field, only to miscue it and hole out to the deep cover fielder. Kohli's stay ended on 19 off 13.
Ngidi bowls tight 17th over
In his first over he took out the big fish and gave away just 7 runs. But in his second spell, he was given the treatment by Tim David and conceded 12 runs in the over.
He conceded another 14 runs in the 15th over but got his revenge in his last spell.
Bowling the 17th over, he first assisted in Krunal Pandya's run-out after a mix-up with Jitesh Sharma over a non-existent single off a wide ball.
In the same over, he had the struggliing Jitesh miscue a low full toss in the deep. Ngidi took a wicket and gave just 6 runs in his final over to finish with figures of 2 foe 39.
Ngidi brought out the latest weapon in his arsenal -- the slower delivery and used it generously. Although he was given a clobbering in the 11th and 15th overs, he nearly had Jitesh Sharma's scalp in his 3rd spell, but for Mukesh Kumar's effort at short third man that went in vain.
Ngidi brings value for money
Ngidi was signed by DC for Rs 2 crore (Rs 20 million) at the mini auction. He has done well to lead the DC attack in the absence of the injured Mitchell Starc.
And the return of investment are huge from the big South African -- in five games thus far, Ngidi has 7 wickets at an average of 23.57 and an economy of 8.50. His best figures of 3 for 27 coming against Lucknow Super Giants.
Speaking of his slower variations, Ngidi said at the mid-match interview to the broadcaster: 'I've committed to giving it a lot more airtime and obviously putting a lot more revs on it. I saw earlier they put up the arm speeds on the board. And I was pleased to see that because that's exactly what I'm trying to do. No change in the action, no change in my arm speed, just a different trajectory and obviously getting reps on it to dip.'
Stubbs-Miller put on impactful partnership
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Chasing a par score of 176 on a slow wicket, DC were rocked early by veteran seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, being reduced to 22 for 3 in 3 overs.
Local favourite and birthday boy K L Rahul steadied the innings by striking six fours and two sixes in his knock and allowed others to play without pressure despite challenging batting conditions.
He found an able ally in South African Tristan Stubbs who showed his intent from the get go, getting off the mark with a boundary.
With former Australia captain Allan Border watching his first-ever IPL match from the stands, Stubbs took his time and was happy rotating the strike while Rahul got the boundaries to keep DC in control of the required run rate.
Stubbs shifted the momentum decisively, seizing control with an unbeaten 60‑run knock to tilt the contest firmly in Delhi's favour, with steady support from Axar before the skip was forced to retire hurt on 26.
Miller clobbers Shepherd for thrilling win
With 42 needed off 25 balls, Miller joined hands with the settled Stubbs.
Miller survived a run-out opportunity early in his innings, but along with Stubbs kept a cool head even as the boundaries were hard to come by.
Stubbs found the boundary after 24 balls when he pulled a Bhuvi delivery for a six over deep square leg.
With 25 needed off 12, Stubbs began the 19th over with a four. Rasikh Dar conceded 10 runs in the over.
Romario Shepherd was given the uneviable task to defend 15 in the final over. Miller and Stubbs started the over with two singles before Miller (22 not out in 10 balls. with a four and two sixes) sealed the victory by striking the winning runs -- 6, 6, 4 --, ensuring there were no late alarms.
Stubbs (60* in 47 balls, with four boundaries and a six), pacing his innings well and Kohliesque in the chase rotated the strike and took his chances when they came, all while keeping a cool head. He was rightly named Player of the match.
DC nearly got themselves in a hole but Miller, after the last ball defeat against GT, redeemed himself on the night to take DC over the line with one ball to spare.
'I didn't want to take it into the last over. I knew we were going to do it, I didn't know how. But thankfully Miller was at the other end. It's his bread and butter,' said Stubbs, who was named player of the match.
The win lifted Delhi to fourth in the standings with six points, while Bengaluru's defeat dented their push at the top of the table, keeping them second on eight points.
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