IPL 2018: AB de Villiers, Rishabh Pant score perfect 10; Delhi Daredevils' bowlers falter against Royal Challengers Bangalore

AB de Villiers’ rip-roaring 90 helped Royal Challengers Bangalore overcome a late Delhi Daredevils fightback with the bat led by Rishabh Pant. The contest between the two teams lurking at the bottom of the points table turned out to be a mouthwatering one as batsmen from either side made it a treat to watch. Here’s rating the performance of all the players in the match. [caption id=“attachment_4441545” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] AB de Villiers of the Royal Challengers Bangalore bats against Delhi Daredevils. Sportzpics[/caption] Rishabh Pant - 10/10 The swashbuckling Pant overcame a sensational Yuzvendra Chahal and hammered the RCB bowlers even as the other batsmen failed to get going. Pant combined with Iyer in a massive 75-run stand that threatened to give DD a defendable total. However, despite Pant’s tireless efforts, Delhi couldn’t quite get to a good total. AB de Villiers - 10/10 The Superman was on fire at the Chinnaswamy Stadium and dampened Delhi’s spirit with a belligerent knock that has the ability to lift RCB from their dismal season thus far. His 39-ball 90 had everything that one seeks in a T20 innings and disbanded the common notion that he struggles in run chases. Shreyas Iyer - 9/10 In a display of crafty batsmanship, Iyer exhibited why he was retained by the franchise as he went about dismantling the RCB attack after a rather slow start for Delhi. His half-century came with back-to-back sixes off Washington Sundar, and although he couldn’t convert it to a big score, Iyer’s knock will instill some much needed confidence to Delhi’s batting. Yuzvendra Chahal - 8/10 The best bowler on display bowled one over less than his quota overs. Chahal sent back Jason Roy early before squashing any hopes of a Maxi-attack by dismissing Glenn Maxwell. He finished with impressive figures of 2/22 in 3 overs. Virat Kohli - 7/10 The RCB skipper was a victim of one of the best outfield catches you would ever see. Trent Boult pulled off an absolute stunner to cut short a threatening De Villiers-Kohli stand. Umesh Yadav - 7/10 The RCB seamer was right on the money yet another time and gave the hosts a massive boost when he sent Gautam Gambhir back to the hut early on. His first three overs went for a measly 13 runs, although his final figures were messed up by a rampant Iyer. Washington Sundar - 7/10 The off-spinner choked the scoring rate conceding 18 in his first three overs but Iyer plundered 14 off his final over that included back to back sixes. Sundar, though, extracted revenge by dismissing the batsman in that over. Trent Boult - 6/10 An unbelievable catch near the boundary ropes gives Boult a huge boost in the report card but it still can’t overshadow a few loose deliveries he bowled towards the end of the innings after starting off well. Mandeep Singh - 6/10 With RCB all but home, Mandeep walked out to play some fine shots in a short cameo that all but ensured their victory. Corey Anderson - 4/10 The Kiwi all-rounder has been trusted to bowl the final over more than once this season and hasn’t done a great job. He appeared to turn his day around with the bat when he clobbered a mighty six off Boult but was cleaned up by the same bowler few balls later. Glenn Maxwell - 4/10 The Australian all-rounder’s woes against Chahal are well known. He has now been dismissed by Chahal seven times across all formats, including the IPL. He came back with the ball to prize out Manan Vohra and bowled two pretty good overs. However, the big hitter will need to find his groove sooner with the bat for the franchise to rack up bigger scores. Harshal Patel - 3/10 Harshal’s homecoming to RCB turned sour as De Villiers wrecked havoc at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Though Harshal took the wicket of Kohli, it really belonged to Boult for his outstanding efforts at the boundary rope. Quinton de Kock - 3/10 The woeful form that he was in during India’s South African tour seems to have deserted him but De Kock still hasn’t converted his starts to bigger scores and it could be a concern with Brendon McCullum and Moeen Ali sitting out. Mohammad Siraj - 2/10 Siraj rocked the pace gun with balls in excess of 145 kmph but never really looked like the bowler who could break the stand between Iyer and Pant. A wicket or two would have helped his cause. Chris Morris - 2/10 The South African hasn’t been all that good at the death and Delhi might be starting to think of blooding a different all-rounder in Dan Christian, particularly with the kind of pace bowlers they have. Rahul Tewatia - 2/10 The leg-spinner has had an impressive start to the IPL but on a night where De Villiers was in full swing, Tewatia coped quite a few blows. Chris Woakes - 2/10 The England seamer hasn’t quite nailed the role given to him by RCB and continued to gift free runs. His four overs went at 10 an over and yielded zero wickets. Gautam Gambhir - 1/10 With the ball doing a bit, Gambhir, like his partner, failed to get off to a quick start. The pressure started building as Yadav and Woakes stuck to their channels and eventually the Delhi skipper miscued a pull to short mid-wicket. Shahbaz Nadeem - 1/10 The left-arm spinner had a nightmare as De Villiers took him to the cleaners with some fearsome strikes. It would be a surprise if he continues to keep Amit Mishra out. Jason Roy - 1/10 The England opener struggled to get going with the early movement on offer. Just when it seemed like he was ready to break the shackles, Chahal cleaned him up with a quicker one. Manan Vohra - 1/10 His RCB debut turned out to be a disaster but it can safely be assumed that Vohra would get more chances at the top of the order this season. *Vijay Shankar hasn’t been rated since his role in the match was minimal Rating chart: 10-9: Excellent, 8-7: Good, 6-5: Average, 4-3: Poor, 2-1: Very poor