Delhi Capitals suffered their fifth successive Indian Premier League defeat as their batting order was decimated by Royal Challengers Bangalore, who took a 23-run win at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Bottom-of-the-table Delhi looked to be in contention for their first win of the season when they limited RCB to 174-6, but they lost four wickets within the first six overs of a dire run chase, Manish Pandey's half-century only serving to salvage some pride.
Virat Kohli's 50 off 34 deliveries put RCB in a decent position after they were put in by Delhi skipper David Warner, but their momentum was stunted when he was caught in the deep off Lalit Yadav's bowling in the 11th over.
Faf du Plessis (22) and Mahipal Lomror (26) supported Kohli ably before both were caught off the bowling of Mitchell Marsh, whose figures of 2-18 helped Delhi keep RCB within range.
Delhi, however, made a dismal start to their run chase, losing three wickets before the end of the third over and two more by the close of the ninth.
A superb piece of fielding from Anuj Rawat accounted for the first as Prithvi Shaw was run out, before Marsh handed Kohli a routine catch to join his team-mate in being dismissed for nought.
Having watched the wickets tumble around him, Warner (19) gave Vyshak Vijaykumar a maiden IPL wicket when he was caught by Kohli at midwicket, and Vyshak went on to scalp two more on a fine debut.
Pandey restored some respectability with 50 off 38 balls, but any hopes of a Delhi fightback were extinguished when he was bowled lbw by Wanindu Hasaranga in the 14th, allowing RCB to cruise to their second win of the season.
Kohli knock decisive
Kohli took 33 balls to deliver the 47th half-century of his IPL career, and while the RCB opener was dismissed with the next delivery, his excellent knock ultimately proved decisive.
He slammed six fours and one six to guide his side to a respectable tally, one his team-mates struggled to build on after his exit.
Fortunately for RCB, their attack was in scintillating form as Delhi never looked likely to complete the chase.
Debutant Vyshak on song
Vyshak's IPL debut was one to remember as he had Warner caught for his maiden wicket before adding the scalps of Axar Patel and Yadav.
He took 3-20 across four overs while Mohammed Siraj added 2-23 on a day for the bowlers in Bangalore.
IPL: Curran carries Kings over the line
Sam Curran starred as Punjab Kings moved off the bottom of the Indian Premier League table with a five-wicket victory over second-place Rajasthan Royals.
The Kings successfully chased a target of 145 as Curran finished with an unbeaten 63, including two maximums in the final four balls, to get them over the finish line.
The Royals struggled to find their rhythm until Riyan Parag (48) and Ravichandran Ashwin (28) stepped up to drag them into contention, but the Kings stifled their recovery near the end of the first innings.
Curran (2-24), Harshal Patel (2-28) and Rahul Chahar (2-26) all played a part in limiting RR to 144-9, though the Kings then looked like they might fall short in the chase.
Punjab captain Curran carried them forward after a slow start, and though Jitesh Sharma was caught for 22 to offer the Royals hope in the 16th over, impact player Ashutosh Sharma contributed an unbeaten 17 in support of Curran, whose big hitting got the job done with an over remaining.
Data Debrief: Patel comes up clutch
Having posted figures of 2-28 on Wednesday, Patel now has 63 wickets in the death overs (16th-20th) in the IPL, the outright fifth-most wickets in this phase in competition history after Dwayne Bravo (102), Lasith Malinga (90), Bhuvaneshwar Kumar (85) and Jasprit Bumrah (80).
His late dismissals of Parag and Donovan Ferreira kept the Royals' score down, then Curran's joint-highest IPL knock ensured the Kings registered a fourth consecutive away victory.
Pooran's blistering 61 not enough as Shai Hope's Capitals edge LSG by 19 runs to keep slim play-off hopes alive
Delhi Capitals defeated Lucknow Super Giants to boost their hopes of making the Indian Premier League play-offs.
The Capitals claimed a 19-run victory on Tuesday, with Abishek Porel (58) and Tristan Stubbs (57 not out) starring.
Their efforts propelled Delhi to 208-4 from their 20 overs, with Shai Hope (38) and Rishabh Pant (33) chipping in with useful contributions as LSG's bowling attack struggled badly. Hope faced 27 balls and had three fours and two sixes in his knock.
Nicholas Pooran top-scored with a 27-ball 61 in Lucknow's chase, while Arshad Khan plundered an unbeaten 58, yet it was not enough, with the Super Giants only able to reach 189-9 in response. Pooran's knock included six fours and four maximums, while Khan had three fours and five sixes in his 33-ball knock.
Shai Hope found his range after a quiet start.
Ishant Sharma, with 3-34, was the pick of the Capitals' bowlers, as they must now wait and see if Chennai Super Kings or Sunrisers Hyderabad slip up enough to send Delhi into the top four.
LSG are down in seventh, and they must beat Mumbai Indians heavily in their last match to stand any chance of making the play-offs.
Data Debrief: Ishant hits double figures... again
Introduced as the impact player, Ishant fulfilled his duty with three swift wickets inside his first three overs, with Quinton de Kock, KL Rahul and Deepak Hood all taken out.
Ishant has now taken 10 wickets this season, and is onto 93 across his entire IPL career. It is the sixth season Ishant has reached double figures for wickets, and his second in a row.
Afridi lauds 'world class' Babar and Rizwan as Pakistan win Ireland series
Shaheen Afridi lauded Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan as "world class" after the pair guided Pakistan to a T20I series victory over Ireland on Tuesday.
Babar's side were defeated in the first meeting with Ireland last week but responded with two convincing chases to secure a 2-1 triumph.
Ireland captain Lorcan Tucker's 73 helped his side to set a target of 179 in the winner-takes-all-decider, but Pakistan had little trouble in easing to a six-wicket victory with 18 balls to spare.
Rizwan, who managed an unbeaten 75 in the second meeting, crafted a well-made 56, while Babar carried Pakistan to within touching distance after his 42-ball 75.
Big-hitter Azam Khan blasted 18 off just six deliveries to see the visitors over the line, though Afridi was quick to credit the work of the two experienced Pakistan campaigners.
"For us, before the World Cup, it's important to have these games to ready ourselves and there are a few areas to improve," said Afridi, who impressed with 3-14 in the first innings.
"They're both world-class players [Babar and Rizwan]; they know how to play their role and they have done really well on this pitch."
Babar bludgeoned four of his five sixes off Ben White's bowling in the 14th over, while sharing 139 runs with the in-form Rizwan for the second wicket.
"We had good communication in the middle because we have played a lot of cricket together; we were trying to play on our strengths and the aim was to match with the run rate," Babar added.
"Lots of positives for us to take and we were able to execute our plans.
"We have a big tournament coming up and this is good practice; we are now looking forward to the England series."
Mark Adair was the only Ireland bowler to impress with his economical 3-28, though Tucker was still satisfied with his side's efforts.
"It was brilliant and a great privilege to captain," Tucker said at the post-match presentation. "It would have been nice to start with a win.
"We set up a platform nicely but unfortunately, we couldn't finish well. We gave everyone a go with the ball. Credit to the lads, they bowled well in tough conditions.
"Maybe it was a bit disappointing with the result but we had positives from the series."
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