Dubai: Royal Challengers Bangalore beat Delhi Capitals by 7 wickets in the 56th match of IPL 2021 at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, here on Friday.
With this win, Virat Kohli led RCB finished the league stage with 18 points in 14 matches. They will face Kolkata Knight Riders in the Eliminator in Sharjah on October 11.
Riding on some fine knocks by Prithvi Shaw (48 off 31) and Shikhar Dhawan (43 off 35) Delhi Capitals posted a total of 164/5 in 20 overs.
Apart from Shaw and Dhawan, Shimron Hetmyer also made a valuable contribution with the bat, scoring 29 runs in 22 balls.
In reply, Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal were dismissed cheaply with Anrich Nortje dismissing the two openers. Things looked worrisome when Axar Patel dismissed AB de Villiers soon after.
But KS Bharat (78 off 52) and Glenn Maxwell (51 off 33) stitched an unbeaten 111-run stand to take RCB over the victory line in the last ball. Bharat struck a six off the final delivery to seal victory.
Brief scores:
Delhi Capitals 164/5 in 20 overs (Prithvi Shaw 48 off 31, Shikhar Dhawan 43 off 35; Mohammed Siraj 25/2) lost to Royal Challengers Bangalore 166/3 in 20 overs ( KS Bharat 78 off 52 and Glenn Maxwell 51 off 33; Nortje 2/24)