Bengaluru, Apr 10 (PTI): The wizardry of spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Vipraj Nigam helped Delhi Capitals stage a stirring comeback to restrict Royal Challengers Bengaluru to a below-par 163 for seven in the IPL match here on Thursday.
Left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep (2/17) and leg-spinner Nigam (2/18) adjusted their lengths beautifully on a pitch that had a touch of sluggishness to drag RCB innings into a marshy pit after the Capitals chose to bowl first.
But Delhi's decision to field looked utterly obtuse as Royal Challengers went off the blocks like a galloping horse, going past the 50-run mark in just three overs.
Central to that charge was opener Phil Salt's turbo-charged innings of 37 off 17 balls.
The England batter hammered Mitchell Starc for a sequence of 6, 4, 4, 4, 6 to collect 24 runs in the third over.
However, Salt got run out in a yes-no situation involving Virat Kohli (22, 14b). Kohli and Salt added 61 runs off 24 balls for the opening stand.
But the introduction of leg-spinner Vipraj Nigam proved a course-altering point.
Nigam gave away just two runs in the fifth over, and pacer Mohit Sharma followed that up with another tidy few balls in the next over.
Pressurised by a series of dot balls, Devdutt Padikkal (1) went for a release shot off Mohit, but it lacked any kinetic energy as Axar Patel completed an easy catch at the edge of the circle.
Kohli, who began to unshackle himself with a six off Nigam over long-on, soon fell to the same bowler while trying to clobber a delivery wide on the off-stump.
Thereafter, the home side lost the wickets of Jitesh Sharma (4) and Liam Livingstone (3) in quick succession as they slipped to 102 for five in the 13th over, a far cry from the start they had.
In fact, the hosts lost five wickets for a mere 41 runs in just over eight overs, as DC bowlers exploited a hint grip on the surface to telling effect.
The passage between overs 6th and 13th also saw RCB batters managing just two fours and a six.
However, The RCB camp might have harboured some hopes of reaching a much more competitive total through skipper Rajat Patidar, who played a couple of delectable shots.
But Kuldeep’s skidder ended Patidar's stay (25) as stumper KL Rahul safely held the ball which almost touched the moon and came back.
Tim David (37 not out, 20b) played a few customary beefy shots in the death overs but it came a wee bit late as RCB's innings ended on a sad note of what could have been.
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Kolkata (PTI): Alleging that her West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee had approached the Supreme Court to stall the SIR exercise to prevent the identification of infiltrators, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Sunday claimed that the people of the state have made up their minds to dislodge the Trinamool Congress from power.
The TMC countered strongly, urging Gupta to "look into her own backyard" and accused her of making absurd allegations against the TMC government without checking facts.
Addressing participants at the 'Nari Sankalp Yatra' organised by the BJP's women's wing at Science City auditorium here, Gupta alleged that the "hands-off" and appeasement policies of the TMC government had allowed thousands of infiltrators to enter the state in recent years.
She claimed that this had put a strain on basic rights such as access to water, electricity, ration, education, livelihood and the right to vote for genuine citizens.
"She wants to perpetuate this and hence is trying to stall the SIR exercise, which aims at identifying and deporting infiltrators. Imagine a chief minister going to the apex court to argue against an exercise meant to ensure free and fair polls," Gupta said.
The BJP leader alleged that appeasement politics had reached an "alarming level" under the TMC regime.
Raising concerns over women's safety, she claimed that women in the state were not secure despite having a woman chief minister.
Referring to the rape-murder of a woman doctor at RG Kar Hospital, Gupta alleged that the state government had failed to respond adequately to such crimes.
She also referred to the alleged rape of a woman medic in Durgapur and another law student on a Kolkata college campus, claiming that criminals had been emboldened to commit brutalities against women.
She alleged that in crimes against women, overall crime incidents and child marriages, West Bengal remained among the top -- "a slur on a state which once led intellectual and social movements and set examples for the rest of the country," she said.
Criticising the state government's welfare initiatives, she said schemes such as Kanyashree were built on "false claims" and asserted that women needed security rather than assurances.
Accusing the state government of blocking central schemes, Gupta alleged that funds worth "lakhs of crores of rupees" had not reached the poor due to non-implementation of programmes such as Ayushman Bharat, PM Awas Yojana and Jal Jeevan Mission by the state.
"You are only interested in renaming projects and taking credit," she said.
Gupta also alleged that the education sector in the state had been adversely affected, saying several state-run schools had closed due to a shortage of teachers and that the government was opposed to the National Education Policy.
Drawing a comparison with BJP-ruled Delhi, Gupta said, "People have already voted out 'Bhaia' (a reference to former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal). Now it is your turn to bid farewell to 'Didi'." Calling upon women to resist what she termed "strong-arm tactics", she urged them to assert their strength, invoking the imagery of Goddess Durga.
"Bengal has the right to live with dignity, and women have the right to live with dignity," she added.
Reacting to Gupta's allegations, West Bengal Women and Child Welfare minister Shashi Panja accused her of making "absurd allegations" against the Trinamool Congress government ahead of elections.
Panja alleged that during Gupta's tenure in Delhi, several incidents had raised serious concerns, including reports of missing young women and a blast near the Red Fort.
She also criticised the air pollution situation in the national capital, claiming that people were struggling to breathe.
The TMC leader said that despite being in power for a year, Gupta was making "tall claims" instead of addressing key issues in Delhi.
Panja further alleged that the Delhi CM visited West Bengal during elections to "peddle false allegations" against the state government.
Rebutting Gupta, the TMC said in a post on X said, "Madam why did you go off-script again? For your edification, here are the cold, hard facts: In total cases of crimes (IPC + SLL), Bengal ranks a respectable 15th, far safer than BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Gujarat, which languish near the bottom."
"In overall crime rate, Bengal sits comfortably at 28th. Who's second? Your own Delhi. Double Engine Gujarat and Haryana grab 4th and 5th as top-tier crime havens," the TMC said.
"In child marriage, Assam again takes the shameful pole position. And yet you dare lecture Bengal? Stop embarrassing yourself, stop the hypocrisy, and maybe fix the rotting mess in your own backyard before pointing fingers at a state that's outperforming your disasters on every key metric," the TMC countered.
