Shane Watson backs struggling Prithvi Shaw: ‘Player like Prithvi does not just fall out of a tree’ | Cricket News

<p>Vijaykumar Vyshak claimed three wickets on debut to complement Virat Kohli’s imperious fifty as Royal Challengers Bangalore returned to winning ways with a dominant 23-run victory over Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League match in Bengaluru on Saturday.<br /></p>

<p>Kohli (50 off 34 balls) slammed his third fifty in four innings — with the help of six boundaries and a six — before left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav (4-1-23-2) led Delhi Capitals’ charge in the middle overs to restrict RCB to 174/6 after David Warner opted to bowl.<br /><br /></p>

<p>The bottom-placed Delhi side, who came into the match after four losses on the trot, then made a mockery of the 175-run chase as they were restricted to 151/9 in the stipulated 20 overs.<br /></p>

<p>Delhi lost four wickets in the powerplay, including that of skipper Warner (19 off 13 balls), and they were 2 runs for 3 wickets at one stage.</p>

<p>Yet to open their account after five matches, time is running out for the Ricky Ponting-coached side. They now have the difficult task of winning eight out of their remaining nine matches to secure a play-off berth.<br /></p>

<p>RCB, on the other hand, got their campaign back on track after back-to-back losses as they have four points from as many matches.<br /></p>

<p>Vyshak, who was handed his debut in place of Karn Sharma, got his maiden wicket in the form of Warner with a slower delivery, en route to his memorable haul of 3/20.<br /></p>

<p>The 26-year-old varied his pace and mixed his length well to trouble the batters as he went on to take two more wickets — that of Axar Patel and Lalit Yadav — as DC were reduced to 110/8 inside 16 overs.<br /></p>

<p>After Warner (19 off 13 balls) got out cheaply, Manish Pandey waged a lone battle with a 37-ball 50, his 22nd fifty of the tournament. But the wily Sri Lankan spinner Wanindu Hasaranga de Silva trapped Pandey, following a smart review, and it was all but over for DC.<br /></p>

<p>Continuing his horror run, Prithvi Shaw (0) got out for his fifth single-digit score from eight IPL innings when he became victim of a terrific run-out by Impact Player sub Anuj Rawat. Shaw now has 34 runs, including two ducks, from five innings in this IPL.<br /><br /></p>

<p>Earlier, DC bowlers did well to restrict RCB to 174 for 6. RCB were 110 for 2 in 12 overs but they managed to add just 64 runs for the loss of four wickets in the last eight overs.<br /></p>

<p>RCB were going all guns blazing with Kohli and Glenn Maxwell (24 off 14 balls) who was in a six-hitting spree. But the DC spin trio of Kuldeep, Axar Patel (3-0-25-1) and Lalit Yadav (4-0-29-1) seized the momentum.<br /></p>

<p>Mitchell Marsh (2/18 from two overs), who rejoined the team after his wedding, also made a significant contribution with wickets of RCB captain Faf Du Plessis and Mahipal Lomror.<br /></p>

<p>The famed Kohli-du Plessis opening duo got going without any fuss, scoring 33 runs in four overs. Kohli hammered Anrich Nortje for a fine boundary, while the South African upped the ante with a couple of fours.<br /><br /></p>

<p>With Kohli in the box seat, RCB looked in a comfort zone at 89/1 at the halfway mark. But then, RCB found themselves on the backfoot and were reduced to 132/6 after Kuldeep grabbed the wickets of Maxwell and Dinesh Karthik (0) off successive deliveries.<br /></p>

<p>The double-wicket maiden over was preceded by Axar’s dismissal of Harshal Patel as DC secured a team hat-trick to turn it around in the 15th over. Wicketkeeper Abhishek Porel appealed for an LBW and the review showed a faint spike off the bat as Harshal ended up being dismissed caught-behind.<br /><br /></p>

<p>It was Lalit who dismissed Kohli with a big full toss. The star Indian batter perished, failing to clear the midwicket boundary.<br /></p>