Delhi Capitals braved a storming knock from Rajasthan Royals’ skipper Sanju Samson to clinch a vital win in IPL 2024 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium here on Tuesday.
After being sent out to bat, DC scored an imposing 221 for eight, before restricting the Royals to 201 for eight.
Samson’s efforts, a free-flowing 46-ball 86, though were not reciprocated by his fellow batters as the Royals crashed to their second consecutive defeat.
On the right note
DC’s defence began on the right note with Royals openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler falling inside the PowerPlay.
Meanwhile, Samson raced to 41 off his 16 balls, attacking the DC pacers with scant respect. The right-handed batter was watchful against the home spinners on a surface that offered grip and turn, before launching a second charge against the quicker bowlers.
Contested decision
The game’s turning point came when Samson was dismissed by Mukesh Kumar, off a contested decision.
The Royals claimed Shai Hope had touched the boundary rope at long-on after completing the catch. The on-field umpires stuck to the decision made by the third umpire, despite Samson’s protests.
Rovman Powell and Shubham Dubey kept the battle alive with some big hits. But in the end, it was a bridge too far for the Royals as DC secured its sixth win of the tournament.
Openers sizzle
DC’s batting salvo was led by fifties from openers Jake Fraser-McGurk and Abhishek Porel, as the home side accounted for its third 200+ score at the venue.
R. Ashwin was the only Royals bowler who held his own, with the experienced off-spinner ending with his best bowling figures of the season (three for 24)
Fraser-McGurk was the one who first lit the fuse as he sizzled to a 19-ball fifty.
Just when the Aussie batter threatened to take the game away, he chipped an innocuous high full-toss from Ashwin straight to cover. Porel took over from there, with the 21-year-old scoring his maiden IPL fifty.
DC’s innings found a late flourish through Tristan Stubbs, who took his side to 221, which in the end proved to be enough.
Scoreboard
DELHI CAPITALS
Jake Fraser-McGurk c Ferreira b Ashwin 50 (20b, 7x4, 3x6), Abishek Porel c Sandeep b Ashwin 65 (36b, 7x4, 3x6), Shai Hope run out 1 (1b), Axar Patel c Parag b Ashwin 15 (10b, 1x4, 1x6), Rishabh Pant c Boult b Chahal 15 (13b, 1x6), Tristan Stubbs lbw b Sandeep 41 (20b, 3x4, 3x6), Gulbadin Naib c Ashwin b Boult 19 (15b,1x4, 1x6), Rasikh Salam (Impact Player in place of Porel) run out 9 (3b, 2x4), Kuldeep Yadav (not out) 5 (2b, 1x4); Extras (w-1): 1; Total (for eight wickets in 20 overs): 221
FALL OF WICKETS
1-60 (Fraser-McGurk, 4.2 overs), 2-68 (Hope, 5.1), 3-110 (Axar, 9.2), 4-144 (Porel, 12.4), 5-150 (Pant, 13.5), 6-195 (Naib, 18.4), 7-215 (Stubbs, 19.3), 8-221 (Rasikh, 19.6)
RAJASTHAN ROYALS BOWLING
Boult 4-0-48-1, Sandeep 4-0-42-1, Avesh 2-0-42-0, Ashwin 4-0-24-3, Parag 2-0-17-0, Chahal 4-0-48-1.
RAJASTHAN ROYALS
Yashasvi Jaiswal c Axar b Khaleel 4 (2b, 1x4), Jos Buttler (Impact Player in place of Chahal) b Axar 19 (17b, 2x4, 1x6), Sanju Samson c Hope b Mukesh 86 (46b, 8x4, 6x6), Riyan Parag b Rasikh 27 (22b, 1x4, 3x6), Shubham Dubey c Stubbs b Khaleel 25 (12b, 2x4, 2x6), Rovman Powell b Mukesh 13 (10b, 1x4, 1x6), Donovan Ferreira lbw b Kuldeep 1 (3b), R. Ashwin c Hope b Kuldeep 2 (3b), Trent Boult (not out) 2 (3b), Avesh Khan (not out) 7 (3b, 1x4); Extras (lb-4, nb-1, w-10): 15; Total (for eight wkts. in 20 overs): 201.
FALL OF WICKETS
1-4 (Jaiswal, 0.2), 2-67 (Buttler, 5.5), 3-103 (Parag, 10.6), 4-162 (Samson, 15.4), 5-180 (Dubey, 16.4), 6-181 (Ferreira, 17.1), 7-185 (Ashwin, 17.6), 8-194 (Powell, 19.2).
CAPITALS BOWLING
Khaleel 4-0-47-2, Ishant 3-0-34-0, Mukesh 3-0-30-2, Axar 3-0-25-1, Kuldeep 4-0-25-2, Rasikh 3-0-36-1.
Toss: Rajasthan Royals
PoM: Kuldeep Yadav
Delhic Capitals won by 20 runs
Royals 148 for 3
Rajasthan Royals was 148/3 in 14 overs with Samson (79) and Shubham (13) at the crease. Jaiswal (4), Buttler (19), and Parag (27) were the batters to be dismissed
