Delhi Capitals beat Rajasthan Royals by 46 runs in the 23rd game of 2020 Dream 11 IPL. Delhi moved to top of the table with 10 points in 6 games played so far. Rajasthan Royals stays in 7th place with 4 points in 6 games.
Stoinis and Hetmyer comes to Delhi rescue
At smaller Sharjah ground where chasing big scores are not an issue, Steve Smith elected to field first after winning the toss. Delhi Capitals put a par score of 184/8 in 20 overs after losing top order batsmen early. In response, Rajasthan got all out for 138 runs in 19.4 overs.
English Man Jofra Archer removed both in-form Delhi openers Prithvi Shaw (19 runs in 10 balls) and Shikar Dhawan (5 runs in 4 balls) early. Rajasthan’s Brilliant piece of fielding led to two crucial runouts of Captain Shreyas Iyer (22 runs from 18 balls) and Pant (5 runs in 9 balls). Delhi was 4/79 in 9.2 overs before Australian Marcus Stoinis 39 runs in 30 balls (four 6’s) and Hetmyer 45 runs in 24 balls ( five 6’s) helped team to set 185 target for struggling Rajasthan.
Jofra Archer continues his impressive form with the ball, he claimed three wickets and finished game with 4-0-24-3 bowling figures. Rahu Tewatia was most economical bowler for Rajasthan with 4-0-20-1 stats.
Catastrophic Royals Chase
Considering Sharjah’s short boundary and top order batsmen form, 185 target should be an easy one for Rajasthan Royals. But Delhi Capitals formidable bowling strength made it really tough for their opponents.
Dashing batsman Jos Butler got out early for 13 runs before Smith(24 runs from 17 balls) and Jaiswal (34 from 36 balls) put up 41 runs partnership for second wicket. Sanju Samson once again failed with bat and scored just 5 runs.
Rajasthan lost wickets at regular intervals, only Rahul Tewatia managed to fight back with 38 runs in 29 balls. Man of the Match R Ashwin claimed 2 wickets for 22 runs in his 4 over spell. KG Rabada was on expensive side today, gave up 35 runs in 3.4 overs but claimed 3 wickets.
Post-Match Comments :
R Ashwin, Man of the Match:
“One of the important things about this attack is that most of the bowlers can bowl at any time. I know my role comes up when the game is nicely poised. An over where a wicket is needed or the pressure is up. You have to be brave at that time and put your hand up. Today the ball was soaking well, and the sweat didn’t help much.”
Shreyas Iyer, Captain of Delhi Capitals :
“I a really happy with the way we came out after first innings. We thought this might be an under-par total but the bowlers did their job. The wicket did surprise us a little bit because we thought it would quicken up with the dew. I am really happy with the way the bowlers execute their plans. I am also really happy with the support staff who prepare us so well. We have to be consistent with out approach. That should be our mindset, and not take anything lightly.”
Steven Smith, Captain of Rajasthan Royals :
“Not playing good enough over the full 40 overs. We are doing some good things in patches, but unfortunately not executing well under pressure. I think we gave a few away in the end. The wicket was not as good as it has been. It was a little stoppy. We gave away 10-15 too many. Ben Stokes comes out of quarantine tomorrow, we play day after. He hasn’t had any practice. So we will need to have a chat around that.”
