At the Arun Jaitley Stadium, where both sides amassed totals exceeding 200, the Delhi Capitals emerged victorious in yet another batting extravaganza. With the win, Delhi increased their lead to 12 points and continued to be a contender for a postseason berth. In the chase, they overcame a lively innings from Sanju Samson to bring the nerve-wracking game to a satisfying conclusion.
What changed that way?
When compared to Delhi Capitals, Rajasthan’s death overs run-rate saw a significant dip, but even though that was mostly due to accurate bowling, Rajasthan was left wondering about a decision that might have altered the outcome of the match. On 86, Sanju Samson was declared out when Shai Hope was caught overbalancing close to the boundary. In spite of certain video angles that would have called for a greater examination, third umpire Michael Gough ruled quickly in the fielder’s favour. Samson had to walk back to an upset dugout after having to confer with the on-field officials once more.
After that dismissal, Pant turned to the man he had strategically held back, Kuldeep, for the 18th over. In that over, Kuldeep removed Donovan Ferreira and R. Ashwin from the game, finishing with figures of 2/25 and thus sealing the victory for his team.
Capitals of Delhi:
Fraser-McGurk loses his mind
From 1 to 6 in Powerplay – 78/2 (11x4s, 4x6s)
In the IPL, Jake Fraser-McGurk set a record for the most fifty-score runs in twenty balls. The fact that it occurred within his first season alone is astounding, especially considering how good his batting was on Tuesday. Trent Boult presented McGurk with a new obstacle right away when he came round the wicket, cutting off his swinging space and even hitting him in the body to finish him off. To begin his assault, Fraser-McGurk, however, met the challenge by creating space and lofting Boult for a boundary. Avesh Khan took the brunt of that, getting whacked all over the pitch for 28 runs while McGurk reached his fifty in just 19 balls. Under pressure, the Rajasthan Royals looked to R Ashwin’s expertise, who was fortunate enough to see Fraser-McGurk send a full delivery straight to cover. Sandeep Sharma palmed off Abishek Porel’s solid shot back onto the stumps, resulting in non-striker Shai Hope being run out. This was RR’s lucky break. Nevertheless, Fraser-McGurk’s belligerence had caused the harm in the powerplay.
Ashwin seals off a few gaps.
Between 7 and 15 middle overs: 83/2 (4x4s, 3x6s)
Axar Patel was put in by Delhi Capitals as a floater at No. 4, yet this strategy did not work out. In response to having two left-handers at the crease, Samson turned to Riyan Parag’s offspin, which conceded 17 runs in his two overs. Furthermore, Patel’s incapacity to rapidly advance the scoreboard exerted pressure on the other team. However, Porel decided to maintain the run-rate on his own. On his way to a quick fifty, he discovered the limits against players like Avesh Khan and Yuzvendra Chahal. With RR finding it difficult to stop the boundaries, Ashwin once more showed his mettle with a lethal spell that claimed the wickets of Patel and Porel, who were both eyeing huge hits. In his four overs, he completed with figures of 3-24, conceding just one six. He produced no boundaries in his three overs during the middle session. Chahal’s same boundary-less over, in which he removed Rishabh Pant, came between it, giving RR their finest bowling sequence of the innings.
Stubbs raises DC one more.
16–20 death overs: 65/3 (7x4s, 4x6s)
In the final five overs, Sandeep Sharma was able to handle one over without a boundary, but the remaining four overs made up for that lack of runs. led by a fearless Stubbs who hit two consecutive sixes off Sandeep after Chahal had given him a 21-run over. Between, Rasikh Dar, Porel’s impact substitute, skilfully scooped Boult for boundaries, sustaining the late charge and enabling DC to reach a total of 221 – a respectable total on a pitch where the average first-inning score has been 249.
Royals of Rajasthan
Once more, Samson takes the lead.
67/2 in Powerplay (8x4s, 4x6s)
Rajasthan lost both of their openers in the first six overs – Jos Buttler chopping on against Axar Patel and Yashasvi Jaiswal misfiring on a big smash off the second ball of the session against Khaleel Ahmed. But despite these losses, the batters—Sanju Samson in particular—had fun. In Khaleel’s second over, he made the most of the lesser lengths available on a true pich, hitting 14 to produce 18. He raced away by doing this almost exactly the same way in the next over that Ishant Sharma bowled. RR made up for a rather poor start, where the opening two overs gave only nine runs, as Mukesh Kumar became the third successive pacer to be smashed for six, four, and four in one over by Samson. Buttler was starting to settle into a rhythm with a six and a four off Patel, but he was unable to sustain it after being dropped by Stubbs off Mukesh Kumar.
Samson keeps up the attack.
92/1 in the intermediate overs (5x4s, 7x6s)
After the powerplay, Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel batted well at first, controlling the run-rate, but Riyan Parag’s consecutive sixes soon undid them and allowed RR to continue. But a well-timed, slower one from Rasikh Dar finished him off, turning a bright start into a mere cameo. Unfazed, Samson went on to hit a similar slower shot for a six. To maintain the pace, Shubham Dubey, who had hit Ishant Sharma for a four and a six up until that point, broke loose after contributing mainly silently to a 34-run stand. Four straight wides in an over from Khaleel Ahmed completed a fruitful stretch for RR, who went into the last five requiring 62 with a well-positioned Samson leading the way.
Fallout in Rajasthan
42/5 in the death overs (4x4s, 2x6s)
Even though Rovman Powell started the pursuit with a boundary off his opening ball, the chase came to an end with the wicket of Samson. The other experienced batsman, Shubham Dubey, got off to a couple of boundaries against Khaleel before being caught in the deep during that over. After conceding just 21 runs in his opening three overs, Kuldeep Yadav returned in the eighteenth over to further tighten the screws. In an 18th over without any boundaries, he had Donovan Ferreira leg before wicket with his first ball, and Ashwin caught his last ball. This left RR needing 37 off 12 balls, with Powell being the only recognised batsman. Despite hitting a six off Rasikh Salam in the penultimate over, Rajasthan easily lost because the asking rate was increasing too quickly.
Brief scores: Rajasthan Royals 201/8 (Sanju Samson 86) lost to Delhi Capitals 221/8 (Jake Fraser-McGurk 50, Abhishek Porel 65, Tristan Stubbs 41; R Ashwin 3-24) by 20 runs.
What comes next?
The Rajasthan Royals will have four days off before travelling to Chennai to play the Super Kings in the inaugural day game of the IPL 2024 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on May 12. Delhi travels to Bengaluru to play the Royal Challengers in a night game that same day.
