DELHI OUT OF JAIL
Capitals records a crucial 20-run win over RR to stay alive
NEW DELHI: Delhi Capitals kept its qualification hopes for playoffs alive with a 20–run win over Rajasthan Royals in the IPL here on Tuesday. With this victory, Delhi now has 12 points from 12 matches and is at fifth in the table, while Royals has 16 points from 11 games and occupies second spot. This is Royals’s second successive loss after its narrow one-run defeat to Sunrisers Hyderabad last week.
Set to chase a hefty 222, the Royals got off to a bad start, losing Yashasvi Jaiswal for four in the first over. Captain Sanju Samson waged a spirited battle, scoring 86 (46b, 8x4, 6x6) and as long as he was at the crease, the Royals stood a genuine chance of winning. But with his dismissal at a crucial juncture in the 16th over, the inaugural champion’s hopes were dashed as the rest of the batters weren’t equal to the task.
Earlier, Veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin jolted Delhi with wickets in his successive overs but pacer Avesh Khan bled runs as the host posted 221 for eight. Had it not been for some smart bowling by Ashwin and fellow off-spinner Riyan Parag in the middle overs, DC would have put more runs on the board.
Young Australian batter Jake FraserMcGurk (50 off 20 balls) continued with his splendid form while Abhishek Porel contributed 65 off 36 balls. Tristan Stubbs chipped in with a useful 20-ball 41 but skipper Rishabh Pant’s (15) bat did not talk much.
Royals pacer Trent Boult and Sandeep Singh came in with hit-the-deck approach and largely succeeded in not letting home openers swing freely. The initial boundaries were largely welltimed drives and lofted shots in the ‘V’ space.
Fraser-McGurk grew restless and began to throw his bat around. The Australian gradually got his rhythm and was harsh on Avesh, who he blasted for 28 runs, plundering four fours and two sixes in the fourth over of the innings to complete his half-century in just 19 balls. As fate would have it, Fraser-McGurk had a soft dismissal when he hit a full-toss from Ashwin straight to cover fielder Donovon Ferreira. Shai Hope too departed soon in a rather unfortunate fashion. Porel hit Sandeep straight, the ball touched the bowler’s hand before crashing into the stumps, and caught the West Indian outside the crease.
Yuzvendra Chahal (1/48 in 4 overs) began with a slightly fullish length and was hammered for six by Porel. Parag, though, did a great job with his off-spin as he managed to keep the batters quiet.
BRIEF SCORES: Delhi Capitals 221/8 in 20 overs (A Porel 65, JF McGurk 50, T Stubbs 41, R Ashwin 3/24) bt RR 201/8 in 20 overs (S Samson 86)