Delhi Capitals on Wednesday defeated Rajasthan Royals by 13 runs in the ongoing IPL competition, being held in the UAE.
Batting first, Delhi Capitals posted a total of 161-7 in their quota of 20 overs. Shikhar Dhawan was the top-scorer with 57 runs off 33 balls. He was nicely supported by his skipper, Shreyas Iyer, who made 53 in just 43 balls. The total posted by Delhi Capitals came as a huge respite given that they were reduced to 2-10 in 2.3 overs with the tormentor-in-chief, Jofra Archer, wreaking havoc with his lethal bowling. The English pacer picked up three wickets by conceding just 19 runs in four overs.
Rajasthan Royals began their run-chase on an aggressive note even though they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Jos Buttler, who made 22 in just nine balls, was the first to depart followed by skipper Steve Smith. Ben Stokes, who was playing only his second match of this season’s IPL competition, rose to the occasion and made a quickfire 41 in 35 balls. Sanju Samson contributed with 25 runs that he took just 18 balls to score.
However, soon after Stokes departed playing a rash shot, this led to a spectacular batting collapse for Rajasthan Royals. From comfortably heading to a victory, they ended up losing the match by 13 runs. Steve Smith’s side scored just 25 runs in the last five overs of the match.
Dhawan said after the match, “Shreyas is in a bit of pain. We will know more tomorrow. His shoulder is moving, touch wood. I am glad that we won this game. Coming back into this was a great team effort. Quite enjoyed it. We always believed we had a chance. We knew their batting is not that deep. We knew we could get into them if we got the top order. And we have got experience in the bowling. Now we have got a gun bowler in Anrich. And Tushar bowled smartly too, bowling slower balls, making them hit to the bigger boundary”
Reacting to the team’s defeat, Smith said, “Disappointing one. Obviously, the wicket slowed up a fair but, but we got off to a good start with Jos and Stokesy. Then Sanju and Stokesy got partnership going but we lost too many wickets. On a slow wicket it is difficult to make up runs in the end. We needed to take it deep with set batsmen. Guys kept getting in and kept getting out, and not making 60-odd to see us through. The guys that have the air speed have had the most success. Jofra has been brilliant for us so have Nortje and Rabada for Delhi. We are not in a great position, are we? We have got to quickly move on and come back with a big game in three days time.”
Anrich Nortje was declared Man Of The Match.
