It virtually rained sixes at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Tuesday. The evening drizzle delayed the start of the match by more than one hour. But much to the relief of the partisan crowd, the match eventually started at 10 past nine.
The 70-minute wait was worth it as Yuvraj Singh played a hurricane 29-ball 68 studded with nine massive sixes and one four to help Royal Challengers Bangalore post an imposing 186/4 against Delhi Daredevils.
Yuvraj, who had played a stellar innings in the encounter against Rajasthan Royals on Sunday but still ended up on the losing side, was at it again. With captain Virat Kohli (1), Chris Gayle (22)and AB de Villiers (33) back in the pavilion with less than 100 runs on the board, Yuvraj had a huge task on hand. Though he had a subdued start, the left-hander reserved his best for the death overs.
Dominating the proceedings single-handedly, Yuvraj targeted South African leg-spinner Imran Tahir and Jharkhand medium-pacer Rahul Shukla for some harsh treatment. When Tahir came on to bowl the 17th over, he slammed him for three sixes. The indomitable Yuvraj was at his best in the last over bowled by Shukla. He clobbered the right-arm bowler all over the park for four sixes to send the crowd into raptures. Twenty seven runs were scored off the last over.
Winning the toss and opting to bowl first, DD captain Kevin Pietersen thought the conditions would be conducive for his bowlers. He proved to be right after Gayle and Kohli departed with only 45 runs on the board. But with the arrival of Yuvraj, the whole scenario changed as he rewrote his own script to help his team take the advantage. Yuvraj shared a 79-run partnership with Sachin Rana (15 not out) for the unconquered fifth wicket as Bangalore scored 79 runs in the last five overs to end their innings with a flourish.
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