Phil Salt smashed 87 runs to inspire the Delhi Capitals to a seven-wicket victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League on Saturday.
Salt got his second half-century in his first IPL season, which helped Delhi chase down 182 runs and win at the Feroz Shah Kotla ground with 20 balls to spare.
Salt, who is both a wicketkeeper and a batsman, put up 60 runs with the captain, David Warner, who hit 22, and then 59 runs with Mitchell Marsh, who hit 26.
Virat Kohli’s 55 runs and Mahipal Lomror’s 54 runs without being out helped Bangalore get to 181-4 after they chose to bat first.
Salt got into a shouting match with the fast bowler for the other team, Mohammed Siraj, in the middle of the pitch. This only pushed Salt to hit six sixes in his 45-ball knock.
Salt was out by leg-spinner Karn Sharma. Then, Rilee Rossouw hit 35 runs in 22 balls without being out and won the game with a six.
Delhi, which started the season with five losses, moved up from the bottom of the table to ninth place. The team has a small chance of finishing in the top four and making the play-offs.
Anrich Nortje, a South African who plays for Delhi, missed the game because he had to fly home late Friday because of a “personal emergency.”
Kohli, who was born in Delhi, stayed in the spotlight as the former captain walked onto the pitch in front of a full crowd, most of whom were wearing the star’s Bangalore jersey.
Fans cheered for every run he made, and the superstar, who was playing his first game after a nasty fight with Lucknow coach Gautam Gambhir, gave them what they wanted by scoring his fifth fifty of the season.
Faf du Plessis, the captain, was in good form and stayed on top of the batting chart with 511 runs. He and Kohli put up 82 runs together to start the game.
But it was Lomror’s blitz that got the Bangalore innings going after Mitchell Marsh sent du Plessis back for 45 and Glenn Maxwell back for a duck on the first ball.
In the day’s first match, Matheesha Pathirana of Sri Lanka led an inspired pace attack that helped Chennai Super Kings beat Mumbai Indians by six wickets.
Pathirana is called “Baby Malinga” because he throws the ball like the former Sri Lankan fast bowling star Lasith Malinga. In Chennai, he took 3-15 wickets to hold five-time winners Mumbai to 139-8.
M.S. Dhoni’s Chennai team, which has won the IPL four times, cruised to victory with 14 balls to spare. They are now second in the table of 10 teams.
Pathirana was praised by Dhoni, who said, “Batters have a hard time picking it up from bowlers who don’t have a clean action. But his speed and consistency make him stand out.”
Photo by Richard Huggard/Sportzpics/SA20/BackpagePix
