Rajasthan Royals beat Delhi Capitals by 15 runs in Match 34 of IPL 2022.
Rajasthan Royals: 222/2 in 20 overs (Devdutt Padikkal 54, Jos Buttler 116, Sanju Samson 46 not out; Mustafizur Rahman 1/43)
Delhi Capitals 207/8 in 20 overs (David Warner 28, Prithvi Shaw 27, Rishabh Pant 44, Rovman Powell 36; Prasidh Krishna 3/22, R Ashwin 2/32)
Riding on a brilliant century by Jos Buttler, Rajasthan Royals have defeated Delhi Capitals by 15 runs in Match 34 of IPL 2022.
Despite the steep 222/2 posted by Rajasthan, Delhi looked like they were in the game till the very end, when 36 runs were needed from the final 6 deliveries. Rovman Powell was the batter at the crease and he smashed Obed McCoy for three big sixes off the first three deliveries.
But then drama ensued.
The third delivery had looked to be above waist high and Delhi's dugout collectively looked to the umpire to call it a no ball. When no such decision was made, a furious Rishabh Pant could be seen gesturing for his players to leave the field of play. Pant even sent Pravin Amre, one of the team's coaches out in the middle to take the matter up with the umpire.
All this happened while the final over was supposed to be underway.
The batters however stayed out in the middle, Amre was sent back to the dugout by the umpire and the final three deliveries saw just two runs being scored with Powell getting out off the last ball.
Delhi lost the match by 15 runs.
Rajasthan Were Put Into Bat First
Jos Buttler continued his domination over the bowlers in this IPL as he blazed to his third century of the season while adding 155 runs for the opening wicket with Devdutt Padikkal (54) as Rajasthan Royals posted a massive 222/2 after being put into bat first.
Delhi Capitals, already ravaged by a Covid-19 outbreak in their squad, reached Wankhede Stadium instead of MCA Stadium in Pune without head coach Ricky Ponting, who went into isolation after a family member tested positive this morning.
On the field, they ran into Buttler, who was in imperious form as he built his innings with caution before hitting a plethora of shots in scoring 116 off 65 deliveries.
This was his third century of this edition of IPL and fourth overall. Virat Kohli had scored four tons in a single edition of IPL in 2016 and now Buttler needs one more century to equal that record. The English opener had struck his first hundred of IPL 2022 against Mumbai Indians at the DY Patil before reaching the three figure mark against Kolkata Knight Riders at Brabourne.
Buttler smashed his 100 off 57 deliveries, hitting eight fours and eight sixes. His 155-run stand with Padikkal was the first 150 run partnership for the opening wicket this season.
Buttler and Padikkal started slowly as Rajasthan Royals reached 44 for no loss in the power-play. Padikkal had welcomed Mustafizur Rahman for three successive fours in his first over while Buttler waded into Khaleel Ahmad for a big six, hitting across the line against a length ball and depositing it in the lower-tiers over deep midwicket.
He clobbered Shardul Thakur, who had started with a rare maiden over, into the upper tier over deep mid-wicket as Rajasthan Royals reached 87/0 at the midway stage. The English batter completed his half-century in 36 balls, hitting four boundaries and as many sixes with a four off a full toss by Lalit Yadav.
Padikkal tried to keep pace as he sent Lalit over the rope as the Royals reached 100 in the 11th over. Buttler changed gears after reaching his fifty, he hammered Lalit Yadav for 18 runs with two sixes and a four in the 13th over and handed the same treatment to Kuldeep Yadav two overs later. In between, he reverse-swept Axar Patel for a four and lost his partner Padikkal for 54, trapped lbw by Khaleel Ahmed after Royals crossed 150 in the 14th over.
Buttler reached his century undeterred, crossing the three-figure mark off 57 deliveries and striking eight fours and eight sixes in the process. In the five overs between 12th and 16th, Rajasthan Royals hammered 54 runs.
Buttler took 36 balls for his first fifty but needed just 21 deliveries for the second as he blazed to glory once again.
Skipper Sanju Samson hammered 21 runs in the 18th over off Khaleel Ahmad, hitting two fours and two sixes but was also lucky as the bowler put down an easy skier after inducing an error with a well-directed short one.
Buttler continued to score at a brisk pace, blasting a four and a six off Khaleel Ahmed in the 19th over as Rajasthan Royals reached 200 in the 19th over. He was eventually out for 116 off 65 balls, caught by David Warner, holing out to long-on, trying to hit a yorker by Mustafizur in the last ball of the 19th over.
Delhi's Fighting Chase
Delhi came close in the chase as thanks to superb innings by David Warner (28), Prithvi Shaw (37), skipper Rishabh Pant (44) and an unbeaten 15-ball 36 by Rovman Powell to come close to the target but in the end, they fell short narrowly.
Powell raised hopes for a sensational victory by hitting three sixes off the first three deliveries of the final over but he could not complete the chase of 36 off six deliveries as Delhi lost the match.
Delhi started at a brisk pace as David Warner and Prithvi Shaw raised 43 runs in the fifth over before Warner, who hammered Prasidh Krishna to two successive fours in the fifth over and had slashed Trent Boult over short third man. But Warner could not prolong his innings as he was out, offering a thick edge behind to Sanju Samson off Prasidh Krishna, trying to flick a length ball by backing away to the leg side.
Sarfaraz Khan lasted for only three deliveries, caught by Prasidh Krishna off R Ashwin and Delhi Capitals were in trouble at 48/2 in the sixth over. Skipper Rishabh Pant joined Prithvi Shaw in the middle and they raised 51 runs for the third-wicket partnership, both of them hitting some superb shots in the process.
But the good tidings did not last long for Delhi Capitals as Shaw, who survived a difficult chance off Boult and had struck Obed McCoy for a four and six of successive deliveries in the ninth over, was out for 37 caught by Boult off Ashwin as Delhi slumped further into trouble at 99/3 in 10th over.
Skipper Rishabh Pant kept up the chase of the stiff target, hammering Riyan Parag for a couple of sixes -- a thigh-high full toss posted over deep mid-wicket and a one-handed heave over long-on as Parag attempted a round-arm delivery.
He was dropped by Chahal at deep fine leg off Prasidh Krishna, his second life after Hetmyer dropped him earlier. But could not capitalise on it as he got out a ball later, caught by Padikkal off Prasidh as Delhi further slumped into the quagmire.
Lalit Yadav struck a 24-ball 37 and Rovman Powell a 15-ball 36 but in the end, Delhi Capitals fell short by 15 runs.
Powell guided Capitals to the final over with 36 needed off six deliveries. He blasted sixes off the first three deliveries, raising hopes of hitting six sixes to seal a dramatic victory. He hammered his third six of the 20th over off a delivery that they argued should be no-ball on height. The umpires ruled it a legal delivery, leading to the Delhi Capitals bench erupting in anger, gesticulating furiously while a staff member rushed into the field to argue with the umpires. In the end, the umpires stuck to their guns.
McCoy bowled a dot ball and allowed only two runs off the fifth delivery and a dejected Powell skied the final delivery for Sanju Samson to pouch it gleefully to signal victory for Rajasthan Royals.
(With inputs from IANS)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)