Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) stayed alive in the ongoing edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) with their fifth consecutive win of the season. They are now at the fifth position in the points table with a total of six wins in 13 matches and will have to win their last game against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to have any chance of making it to the playoffs. Meanwhile, against Delhi Capitals, RCB ended a five-year drought as they comfortably defended 187 runs at the Chinnaswamy Stadium winning by 35 runs.
The last time RCB won at their home ground while defending a total in an evening encounter was back in 2019 against Punjab Kings. It is a startling stat given the fact that the M Chinnaswamy Stadium is their home ground and they were not able to win batting first for so many years. Nevertheless, the Faf du Plessis led side finally managed to break the jinx this time in order to stay alive in the race for the playoffs.
Going back to 2019, when they had last won against PBKS, RCB had successfully defended 202 runs restricting the opposition to 185 runs thereby winning by 17 runs. AB de Villiers was the player of the match then having smashed an unbeaten 82 off just 44 balls. With the ball, Navdeep Saini and Umesh Yadav shared five wickets even as both the fast bowlers are no more with the team.
As for IPL 2024, it has been a season of resurgence for RCB as they now have a realistic chance to end the league stage at the fourth position if they beat Chennai Super Kings. Looking at the net run-rate of teams, two of RCB, CSK and SRH are certain to make it to the playoffs while Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders are likely to end in top two. Having said that, with two games still left, it could well be a battle between RR and SRH for the second place.
