Rajasthan Royals slumped to a 13-run defeat against Delhi Capitals on Wednesday, 14 October – their fifth loss in eight games in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL).
Choosing to bat first, Shikhar Dhawan and Shreyas Iyer scored half-centuries but Delhi Capitals were restricted to 161/7 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
DC conceded just 26 runs in the last five overs, started off by R Ashwin (1/17) conceding just two in the 16th. He finished his four overs with an economy of 4.25. Rabada then bowled the 17th and conceded just eight after which Nortje dismissed Robin Uthappa (32) in the next and conceded just four.
Rabada conceded three in the 19th over and took the wicket of Jofra Archer (1) after which debutant Tushar Deshpande (2/37) was handed the ball for the last over by Dhawan, who captained DC for much of the innings after Shreyas Iyer sustained a shoulder injury during the Powerplay.
With Rahul Tewatia and Shreyas Gopal at the crease for RR, the 25-year-old bowled a wide on the first ball but recovered, gave away seven runs and took one wicket in the next five deliveries as RR finished their 20 overs with 148/8.
With this win, Delhi Capitals once again replaced Mumbai Indians at the top of the standings with 12 points from eight matches.
Rajasthan Royals’ Innings
Six boundaries and a six in 17 deliveries – that’s how openers Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler started the Royals’ run chase on Wednesday.
The duo took RR to 37/0 in 2.5 overs before Anrich Nortje castled Buttler for a 9-ball 22 with a 155.4 kmph delivery. Captain Steve Smith came out to bat but couldn’t stick around for too long, getting caught and bowled by Ashwin for 1.
Stokes, playing only his second game this season, added 46 runs with Sanju Samson. He smashed six boundaries before becoming Deshpande’s first IPL wicket. The English all-rounder was caught out at long on by substitute fielder Lalit Yadav – who came in after Iyer hurt his shoulder while fielding – for 41 (off 35 balls).
Samson – who had got off to a cracking start this season with scores of 74 and 85 – once again failed to deliver. After scoring a total of 43 runs in their last five games, the 25-year-old could only contribute 25 (off 18 balls) on the day before getting castled by Axar.
RR were 97/4, still needing 65 off 50 balls.
Number five batsman Robin Uthappa added 11 runs with Samson, 13 with Riyan Parag (1) and 25 with Rahul Tewatia. He crawled to a 32 off 27 balls before getting cleaned up by Nortje, who finished with figures of 2/33 and bowled the fastest delivery of the season so far.
New batsman Tewatia, who has led RR to wins from near-impossible situations this season, could not deliver on the day. He scored an 18-ball 14, which wasn’t enough to take Rajasthan over the line.
Delhi Capitals’ Innings – Archer Returns With His Best
Earlier, pacer Jofra Archer struck early to dismiss Prithvi Shaw and Ajinkya Rahane, reducing DC to 10/2 in 2.3 overs. Opener Shaw was clean bowled on the first ball of the game while new man Rahane was caught out by Uthappa at mid-on for 2.
From there, opener Dhawan along with captain Iyer steadied Delhi’s innings with an 85-run stand.
Dhawan reached the fifty-run mark off 30 deliveries, and notched a 33-ball 57 before Shreyas Gopal gave RR a breakthrough by removing him in the 12th over. His knock included two maximums and six boundaries.
Shreyas Iyer went on to score a half-century off 40 deliveries. He stitched a 37-run stand with Stoinis before Kartik Tyagi dismissed him for a 43-ball 53. DC were 132/4 in 16 overs.
Archer removed Stoinis for 18 (off 19 balls) on the final delivery of the penultimate over, finishing his four overs with figures of 3/19 – his best this season.
Jaydev Unadkat (2/32 in 3 overs) dismissed Alex Carey (14) and Axar Patel (7) in the final over to restrict Delhi.
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