RCB’s Director of Cricket Mo Bobat says team’s fighting spirit after losing three early wickets helped them beat Delhi Capitals and take top spot
RCB’s top-scorer Krunal Pandya during his unbeaten 73 off 47 balls in New Delhi on Sunday. Pic/Getty Images
Delhi Capitals (DC) went down by six wickets against visiting Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in their ninth match of IPL 2025 here on Sunday. A solid 51 off 47 balls by Virat Kohli, followed by a match-winning 73 off 47 balls by all-rounder Krunal Pandya, ensured the visitors moved to the top of the points table. With this win, RCB have 14 points from 10 matches, with seven wins. DC, who were second in the points table before the Sunday night match, are now fourth with six wins and 12 points in their kitty.
The star of the match, Pandya, smashed 48 off his last 19 balls, including consecutive sixes off Mukesh Kumar. Luckily for Pandya, each miscued shot landed safely. He was promoted to No. 5 due to an early collapse. He walked in after RCB were reduced to 26-3 after four overs. “My role was pretty clear: if we lose three early wickets, I can go in and make sure that we stitch a partnership [together],” Pandya said.
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Mo Bobat
In a good place
Mo Bobat, RCB’s Director of Cricket, said he was happy with the way the team performed against DC. “A win like on Sunday, where we stuttered a little bit but still got there, was a good example of the personality and togetherness of our team,” Bobat said. “We’re in a good place right now. We’ve played pretty good cricket all season, but we’ve got to a point now where the character shines through, and you want that at the business end of the competition.”
Meanwhile, DC mentor Kevin Pietersen said that losing the toss played a key role in the hosts’ defeat. “We lost the toss. I think we were also going to chase [if we had won the toss]. Winning the toss was very important. I think batting got a little bit easier towards the end. It was a little bit harder in the first innings for us, especially in the middle overs as the wicket was dry. I just think the conditions and the toss probably just didn’t play in our favour,” said Pietersen during the post-match presser.
Yet to hit perfect game
Talking about the team’s overall performance, Pietersen said DC was yet to find their perfect game. “We haven’t quite hit our perfect game yet as a team. I think it’s more that we haven’t really played that complete game. For us to be sitting where we’re sitting with 12 points, knowing that we actually haven’t really hit our straps in all departments, is a good thing.”
Pietersen also had words of praise for KL Rahul: “KL has been playing in a very positive manner since late last year. I’ve had a lot of incredibly brilliant conversations with him about batting.”
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