Rishabh Pant’s quickfire 78 proved to be the gamechanger of the match. (BCCI/IPL)
Delhi Capitals beat Rajasthan Royals by six wickets at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur on Monday. Batting first, Rajasthan put up a formidable 191/6 courtesy of Ajinkya Rahane’s fantastic hundred. However, the fifties from Shikhar Dhawan and Rishabh Pant sealed the win for DC with four balls to spare. The victory took the Capitals to the top of the points table. However, they have played one match more than second-placed Chennai Super Kings.
What a win this for @DelhiCapitals against the Rajasthan Royals 😎 pic.twitter.com/dGTz9UM598
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) 22 April 2019
Toss: Delhi Capitals won the toss and opted to bowl against Rajasthan Royals.DC made one change, bringing in Chris Morris in place of Sandeep Lamichhane, while RR remained unchanged from the last match.
First innings: Asked to bat after Shreyas Iyer called correctly at the toss, Rahane spearheaded Rajasthan Royals’ innings after getting a life on 16, the culprit being Ishant Sharma, who dropped a sitter at short fine-leg. The drop hurt the visitors, but Delhi did well to prevent RR from going past 200. Rahane remained not out on 105 off 63 balls, decorating his knock with three sixes and 11 fours, while Steve Smith contributed 50 off 32 deliveries.
Second innings: In reply, Delhi got off to a scintillating start with Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw forging a 72-run stand. Dhawan scored 54 off 27 while Shaw hit a well-poised 42 off 39 balls. However, it was Rishabh Pant’s blinder- 78 of 36 balls which sealed the contest for the visitors. In his brief but powerful innings, Pant smashed six fours and four sixes to nullify Rahane’s hundred and take DC to victory.
Gamechanger: Rishabh Pant’s quickfire 78 proved to be the gamechanger of the match. Unlike his previous innings, Pant displayed maturity beyond his age and paced his innings perfectly. The southpaw was also selective in his shot-making and minimalized the margin for error by curbing his rash shots. He was rightly adjudged as the man of the match for his game-changing innings.
Game changing innings by @rishabPant777. Great striking and smart rotation of strike by a special player. Not to forget that fantastic start by @SDhawan25 and a steady innings by @PrithviShaw. #RRvDC pic.twitter.com/7ydcwIPhtF
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) 22 April 2019
Captain’s Speak:
Shreyas Iyer- “When we play away from home wickets are so good luckily and it is perfect for our batters. Shikhar is doing a great job in the powerplay. Ricky tells us that batsman who gets the start should bat for a long time. Rishabh finished brilliantly.”
Steve Smith- “We thought we didn’t finish off well with the bat, they pulled things back with Rabada in the death overs. We couldn’t quite get hold of their bowlers. The wicket played well throughout, one of the best in the tournament. They took our bowlers on in the powerplay and Shikhar played a magnificent knock. Pant is a young lad and he did a terrific job as well.”
Scorecard: Rajasthan Royals: 191/6 in 20 overs (Ajinkya Rahane 105 not out, Steve Smith 50; Kagiso Rabada 2/37).
Delhi Capitals: 193/4 in 19.2 overs (Rishabh Pant 78 not out, Shikhar Dhawan 54; Shreyas Gopal 2/47).
(With inputs from PTI)
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