Frenzied fans bet on RCB making it to semis

Bengaluru, May 17 (IANS) Thousands of frenzied fans flocked to the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Sunday for the last league tie of the Indian Premier League (IPL) between hosts Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Delhi Daredevils, hoping that the home team would somehow make it to the playoffs.

Having bagged 15 points from 13 games by winning seven matches and sharing a point from an abandoned match with Rajasthan Royals on April 29 here due to heavy rain, RCB are locked in a do-or-die battle with Daredevils, languishing at seventh place in the standings with 10 points from five wins out of 13 games.

Though Delhi have nothing to lose from this game except pride, as they are not in the race for a place in playoffs, RCB are desperate for a win to stay in the contest at third or fourth position. A loss will put them at the mercy of teams like Kolkata Knight Riders, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians.

"We hope RCB will pull it off in this last game on a winning note as they did against Hyderabad on Friday when its captain Virat Kohli scored a six of the last but one ball to cross the victory line," Prem Kumar, a techie with a global IT firm, told IANS.

Set to score 81 off six overs after the target was reduced -- under the Duckworth-Lewis method -- from 136 in 11 overs due to further rain, RCB registered a dramatic six-wicket win over Hyderabad with 83 for four wickets in 5.5 overs.

Though Kohli won the toss, he chose to bowl first, which enabled Daredevils to hit 187 for 5 wickets in the stipulated 20 overs and set a stiff target to win at any cost.