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, 7×4, 3×6), Abishek Porel c Sandeep b Ashwin 65 (36b, 7×4, 3×6), Shai Hope run out 1 (1b), Axar Patel c Parag b Ashwin 15 (10b, 1×4, 1×6), Rishabh Pant c Boult b Chahal 15 (13b, 1×6), Tristan Stubbs lbw b Sandeep 41 (20b, 3×4, 3×6), Gulbadin Naib c Ashwin b Boult 19 (15b,1×4, 1×6), Rasikh Salam (Impact Player in place of Porel) run out 9 (3b, 2×4), Kuldeep Yadav (not out) 5 (2b, 1×4); 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, 1×4), Jos Buttler (Impact Player in place of Chahal) b Axar 19 (17b, 2×4, 1×6), Sanju Samson c Hope b Mukesh 86 (46b, 8×4, 6×6), Riyan Parag b Rasikh 27 (22b, 1×4, 3×6), Shubham Dubey c Stubbs b Khaleel 25 (12b, 2×4, 2×6), Rovman Powell b Mukesh 13 (10b, 1×4, 1×6), 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, 1×4); 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

Delhi Capitals captain Rishabh Pant with his teammates during an IPL 2024 match.
| Photo Credit: R.V. Moorthy

Delhi Capitals’ (DC) stop-start IPL 2024 campaign enters its final lap as it takes on formidable Rajasthan Royals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on May 7.

DC began the season on the wrong foot, losing four of its first five games. But the Rishabh Pant-led side soon clicked into gear, winning four of its next five matches to put itself in contention for a playoff spot.

But a heavy defeat against Kolkata Knights Riders in its last match means DC’s top-four chances hinge on other results going its way.

For the Royals, the plot has been far more buoyant. Sanju Samson’s men have been on a roll, winning eight of their ten matches.

Batting fire-power

Royals’ success this season has been built around their well-rounded batting unit. They currently boast four players — Riyan Parag, Samson, Yashavi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler — with a 300+ run tally this season, more than any other team this season.

Royals’ batting brawn will fit well with the conditions here, which has seen runs flow faster than any other venue in this IPL (11.85 runs per over).

DC too has some firepower in its rank, with the prominent ammunition being its young Aussie opener Jake Fraser-McGurk, who has scored 259 runs at a scarcely believable strike rate of 233.33 in his debut IPL season.

When these two sides met earlier in the season, in Jaipur, Rajasthan Royals squeezed out a 12-run win. A similar result on Tuesday could all but ring the death knell for DC’s IPL campaign.

Teams:

Delhi Capitals: Rishabh Pant (c), David Warner, Abishek Porel, Ricky Bhui, Yash Dhull, Shai Hope, Prithvi Shaw, Tristan Stubbs, Kumar Kushagra, Swastik Chikara, Ishant Sharma, Jhye Richardson, Rasikh Dar Salam, Vicky Ostwal, Anrich Nortje, Mukesh Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Praveen Dubey, Khaleel Ahmed, Sumit Kumar, Axar Patel, Mitchell Marsh, Lalit Yadav, Jake Fraser-McGurk.

Rajasthan Royals: Sanju Samson (c), Jos Buttler, Shimron Hetmyer, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag, Donovan Ferreira, Kunal Rathore, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Sen, Navdeep Saini, Keshav Maharaj, Sandeep Sharma, Trent Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal, Avesh Khan, Rovman Powell, Shubham Dubey, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Abid Mushtaq, Nandre Burger.

Match starts at 7.30 PM.