Rajasthan Royals (RR) secured a 12-run victory over Delhi Capitals (DC) in the ninth match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) held on Thursday, 28 March, at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.
Despite a spirited batting display, led by Pant, the Capitals could only muster a total of 173/5 by the conclusion of their 20 overs.
Strong Start By DC
In pursuit of a target of 186 runs, DC embarked on a promising start as openers David Warner and Mitchell Marsh capitalized on the powerplay overs, crafting a commendable 30-run partnership. However, their momentum was halted in the 4th over when Nandre Burger dismissed Marsh after his brisk innings of 23 runs from 12 balls.
Subsequently, Ricky Bhui joined Warner in the crease, but his innings was short-lived as Burger swiftly removed him without scoring on just his second delivery.
Captain Rishabh Pant then took charge, forming a resilient 67-run partnership with Warner off 46 deliveries before being dismissed by speedster Avesh Khan in the 12th over. Warner contributed a valuable 49 runs from 34 balls to DC's total.
Then, Pant was joined by Tristan Stubbs, but DC suffered a significant setback in their pursuit of the target when their skipper was dismissed in the 14th over. Yuzvendra Chahal got the breakthrough, trapping Pant (28 runs off 26 balls) on the first delivery of the over, with Samson completing the dismissal by taking the catch behind the stumps.
Chahal then nabbed his second wicket when he made Abhishek Porel (9 runs off 10 balls) his victim in the 16th over of the chase.
Tristan Stubbs played a remarkable knock of 44 runsoff 23 deliveries partnering with Axar Patel (15 off 13 balls) but couldn't power his side to a win thanks to a brilliant bowling efforts of the hosting team.
The Riyan Parag Show
Earlier, in the first innings, all-rounder Riyan Parag continued his good run in the league by smashing an eye-catchy unbeaten 84 off just 45 deliveries to help Rajasthan Royals post 185/5.
Parag was slow to begin with, making just 26 runs off the first 26 balls he faced, as Rajasthan Royals made 58/3 in their first 10 overs. But he flicked a switch after Ravichandran Ashwin’s pinch-hitting cameo, making 58 runs in his next 19 balls, connecting very well with the deliveries and sending them over the boundary rope to make his best-ever IPL score.
His efforts meant RR amassed 128 runs while losing just two wickets in the last 10 overs, including 25 runs taken by Parag in the final over, to make a competitive total that looked improbable at one point. DC were great with the new ball but were taken for cleaners later by Parag, Ashwin, Dhruv Jurel and Shimron Hetmyer.
DC's Bowling Tactics
Sanju Samson was watchful, before steering, pulling and punching to take three fours off Mukesh in the fourth over. Khaleel Ahmed was handed his third over inside the Power-play and the move paid off as he cramped Samson for room with a well-directed short ball, which the batter had to slash behind to Pant, as RR made 31/2 in the six-over phase.
DC brought in spin immediately from both ends and it paid dividends as Kuldeep Yadav beat Jos Buttler on the reverse-sweep, and coaxed Pant to go for a review from him. Replays showed that the ball had straightened to rap Buttler in front of leg-stump, as DC got him out plumb lbw.
Ashwin's Cameo, Parag's Finish
RR promoted Ashwin as the pinch-hitter, and he began by dancing down the pitch against Kuldeep to smack a six over long-on. He gave further impetus to RR’s innings by pulling Nortje for two sixes, before hitting straight to deep mid-wicket off Axar to fall for 29 off 19 balls.
Jurel hit three boundaries to be Parag’s perfect partner in a 52-run stand off 23 balls for the fifth wicket before the former paddled a pacy delivery from Nortje to his stumps. Hetmyer hit a six and four on Mukesh’s missed yorkers before Parag turned the heat in the final over against Nortje in a stunning exhibition of stroke play.
Parag kept smashing boundaries and took RR past the 180-run mark.
With inputs from IANS.
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