In space of just six days, Rajasthan Royals have twice been undone by Delhi Capitals in the ongoing IPL 2020 - the first at their hunting ground in Sharjah, their only loss at the venue this season, and second at the Dubai International Stadium on Wednesday. The defeat, by a margin of 16 runs, only added to their present woes, although not affecting their position in the points table, where they still stand seventh with just three wins from eight games. Delhi, meanwhile, survived, despite scoring just 32 runs in their last five overs, to once again go top of the table.
With an experienced and a set batsman in the form of Robin Uthappa with 29 off 22 and a death-over marauder in Rahul Tewatia at the crease, Rajasthan looked set to chase 39 off the last five overs. But both seemed to lack intent. They played out Ravichandran Ashwin's last over with just defensive shots that fetched them two runs before succumbing to the lethal combination of Anrich Nortje and Kagiso Rabada to add just 15 more runs in the next three overs for the loss of Uthappa. And amid this Tewatia was left furious first with Uthappa for refusing him a single and then with Shreyas Gopal for the same reason that denied him strike in the final over. With two much to pull off in the final over and some quality bowling from debutant Tushar Deshpande, Rajasthan fell 13 runs short of the target.
Earlier, Rajasthan had gotten off to a brisk start with Jos Buttler firing three boundaries and a six in his nine-ball 22 before a fiery yorker from Nortje ripped apart the stumps. Steve Smith departed six deliveries later before Ben Stokes and Sanju Samson looked to revive the innings with a 460run partnership.
Stokes laced six boundaries in his 35-ball knock of 41 to bring some stability before Delhi bounced back with three quick dismissals in a space of just 18 balls.
Shikhar Dhawan and skipper Shreyas Iyer hit stroke-filled half-centuries but Delhi Capitals lost momentum towards the end to be restricted to 161 for seven against Rajasthan Royals in an Indian Premier League match here on Wednesday.
The last five overs of the Delhi Capitals innings yielded only 32 runs and they lost four wickets, an indication how they missed Rishabh Pant and Shimron Hetmyer.
DC had a disastrous start to its innings after opting to bat as it lost Prithvi Shaw off the first ball of the match with a gem of a delivery from Jofra Archer (3/19) that jagged back in after pitching and crashed into the middle stump after getting an inside edge.
To make matters worse for DC, Ajinkya Rahane was holed out to Robin Uthappa off Archer at mid-on an over later.
But then skipper Iyer (53 off 43) joined hands with Dhawan (57 off 33) and the duo initially played cautiously before opening up to take DC forward.
They shared 85 runs for the third wicket off 55 balls to keep DC's momentum going after the early jolts.
Dhawan looked in great nick from the onset, often finding the boundary with his trademark pulls and shots square off the off side.
In the process he scored his 39th fifty in the IPL off just 30 balls but soon after reaching the feat he departed while trying to force the pacer, caught at short third man by Kartik Tyagi off leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal.
His runs came off 33 balls which had six boundaries and two hits over the fence.
After Dhawan's dismissal, Iyer took the onus on himself and upped the ante with some lusty hits and in the process got to his fifty off 40 balls in the 15th over bowled by Jaydev Unadkat, that yielded 17 runs, including two sixes.
But soon after, Iyer departed, caught by Archer at long-off off Kartik Tyagi as he went for another big hit.
Marcus Stoinis (18) and Alex Carey (14) tried their best to add muscle to the scoreboard but were unsuccessful.
(PTI inputs)
