Royal Challengers Bangalore were powered by a dominating knock of 90 not out by AB de Villiers as they defeated a hapless Delhi Daredevils by six wickets at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday.

It was the second win of the tournament for Virat Kohli’s team, seeing his team rise to the middle of the table and consign the Daredevils to the bottom of the pile.

PANT ON FIRE

Delhi’s wicketkeeper batsman Rishabh Pant joined the IPL party with an inventive 85 from 48 balls to help the Daredevils break the shackles put on them by Bangalore’s opening bowlers. Leg spinner Yuzvendra Chahal was turning the ball square as opener Jason Roy took 16 balls for his five before getting bowled.

But Pant (six fours and seven sixes) kept Chahal at bay and targeted other bowlers to take the total to a respectable 174 for five.

DE VILLIERS EVEN BETTER

If Pant was brilliant, De Villiers was breathtaking. Kohli was batting well within himself, as were other batsmen, on a Bangalore wicket that had enough in it for the spinners and seamers. But De Villiers had no issues at all. He had no trouble sweeping fast bowler Harshal Patel for a six over square leg.

BOULT SPECIAL THE HIGHLIGHT

While the Royal Challengers took the win, the highlight of the match undoubtedly was the catch by Daredevils pacer Trent Boult.

Kohli was batting on 30 in the 11th over when he flicked a full toss towards square leg. There Boult ran to his right, changed direction and leaped to collect the ball one-handed over his head to finish the catch.

GAMBHIR WORRIED

Captain Gautam Gambhir said he is concerned that the Daredevils are struggling to climb up the table.

“I would be lying if I say I wasn’t concerned. No one wants to be in this situation,” Gambhir said.

“Hopefully we can turn it around when we get back home. It’s tough being on the road and losing, but that’s no excuse. All the teams are clumped together. We just have to push with them.”