RR Vs DC, IPL 2024, Match 9: Riyan Parag's Sensational Innings Help Rajasthan Royals Beat Delhi Capitals By 12 Runs - As It Happened

In match 9 of the Indian Premier League 2024, Sanju Samson's Rajasthan Royals defeated Rishabh Pant's Delhi Capitals by 12 runs at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Thursday. Riyan Parag's 84 off 45 balls was the highlight of the game as RR won the game. Despite David Warner's 49 and an unbeaten 45 from Tristan Stubbs, DC never got themselves into the chase as Royals' bowlers stuck to their perfect lengths and got their team over the line. Get the highlights and updates of RR vs DC, right here. (Scorecard | Streaming)

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

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

Protea Anrich Nortje is back in the Delhi Capitals fold and was seen in the nets ahead of the Rajasthan Royals clash. Will he feature tonight?

"It's a fresh surface tonight. 67m square boundaries on both sides and a 76m straight boundary. We're playing on pitch number 5 today, it is absolutely rock hard, but there are some cracks which move as you press. It means that the bounce could be low with the new ball, it means the tactics could be similar to that of the last game. It wouldn't be surprising that the Royals couldbe wanting to bat first again today", say Simon Katich and Samuel Badree, in their pitch report.

"It is always good to start the tournament with a win, especially at home. The crowd has been great and the mood in the team is really good. Major part is field placings, the ball is hit to different parts here (in India), so you need to adjust more tactically rather than technically. It's pretty chilled, everyone knows what they're expected to do, it's a great atmosphere (in the team)."

Nothing like that (on suddenly becoming a star player), I would love to play all three formats though. I don't think a lot, I've always been very relaxed, I've matured with age (now 29), there are plenty of good people around me and that helps me. It's a team game, you need to perform together. Ishant's injury did cost us (in the last game), we couldn't get our combination right, but everyone is fit now and we're raring to go. It's important to have a collective effort, at times we need to lift individual performances - with the bat, someone who has got a start has to go on, same with the bowlers as well.

DC skipper Rishabh Pant has won the toss and opted to bowl in their encounter against Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur.

We'll bowl first. The wicket looks fine and we want to use it, there might be some dew in the 2nd innings. Feels good to play 100 matches for the same franchise, but every game is important for me. Most of the concerns are regarding injury, but these are things you can't control. Two changes for us - Ishant hasn't recovered, Shai Hope has a back spasm. Anrich Nortje and Mukesh Kumar come in.

We would have bowled first, dew could come in the second innings. Both pitches have an even covering of grass, but the last match was an afternoon game. All the 10 teams are geared up and prepared well, we just need to follow the process and not think too much, then we will be fine. Same team for us.

Delhi Capitals (Playing XI): David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Ricky Bhui, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Tristan Stubbs, Axar Patel, Sumit Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Anrich Nortje, Khaleel Ahmed, Mukesh Kumar

Rajasthan Royals (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson(w/c), Riyan Parag, Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal, Sandeep Sharma, Avesh Khan

Delhi Capitals Subs: Abhishek Porel, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Pravin Dubey, Kumar Kushgara, Rasikh Dar

Rajasthan Royals Subs: Rovman Powell, Nandre Burger, Tanush Kotian, Shubham Dubey, Kuldeep Sen

Action underway in Jaipur as RR look for a rapid start against DC in this IPL 2024 encounter.

RR lost Yashasvi Jaiswal early on in the innings but the skipper Sanju Samson has looked solid with his three consecutive fours off Mukesh Kumar. For DC, they will be happy with keeping the hosts in check and not flying away with the innings.

RR - 29/1 (5 Overs)

Buttler's last five IPL innings:
0(3) vs KKR
0(2) vs RCB
0(4) vs PBKS
11(9) vs LSG
11(16) vs DC - today

Khaleel Ahmed showed his grit as he sent back RR captain Sanju Samson. Soon after, Kuldeep Yadav struck with a great review to dismiss England's Jos Buttler.

After 10 overs, RR are 58/3.

After Ravichandran Ashwin's brief cameo of 29 was halted by Axar Patel, Riyan Parag took charge for RR if they are to get to a respectable total. DC have taken four wickets with Ashwin's being the latest.

After 15 overs, RR are 108/4

25 off the final over saw Riyan Parag take down Anrich Nortje to the cleaners as RR posted a massive 185 in 20 overs. At one time, the home team looked to be happy with 160 but Parag's blitzkrieg in the final over helped them push to 185.

RR 185/5 (20 overs)

I have put in a lot of practice, I've practised against those kind of (bowling of Nortje). I had my options ready for both sides of the wicket - I was backing mys strengths, I know I had the power, it's good when it comes off. Sanju bhai told me to take it deep, I was confident that I could get a lot of runs. It wasn't easy for a new batter to come and score, you needed someone to stay until the end. It's been tough, I have been a bit emotional now, I have worked hard and seeing the fruits of it now.

Recently, the 22-year-old was in the news in India's domestic cricket season when he blasted a 56-ball century for Assam against Chhattisgarh in the Ranji Trophy. During his 87-ball knock, the batting all-rounder from Guwahati, scored 155 runs with the help of 11 fours and 12 sixes.

Read more about it here:

DC openers David Warner and Mitchell Marsh have started off with their run-chase of 186 against RR.

Delhi Capitals lost the wickets of Mitchell Marsh (23) and Ricky Bhui (0) inside the five overs as they look to hunt down the target of 186 against Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur. Luckily, David Warner is still at the crease and is joined by the skipper Rishabh Pant.

DC - 47/2 (5 Overs)

RR - 185/5 (20 Overs)

Duo of David Warner and Rishabh Pant have steadied ship for DC after early wickets with a fifty-run stand. At the half-way mark, Delhi Capitals are 89/2 and need 97 runs to win with eight wickets in hand.

Just as things were looking normal for DC, they lost their set batters in the form of Rishabh Pant and David Warner. The onus now remains on Tristan Stubbs and Impact Player, Abishek Porel, to take them home. Five overs remain as DC require 66 more.

DC - 120/4 (15 Overs)

RR - 185/5 (20 Overs)

Tristan Stubbs, who hammered two massive sixes off R Ashwin's over, is key for Delhi if they are to chase down RR's target of 186 in Jaipur.

It's come down to DC needing 17 off the final over to win this encounter. Who will do a 'Riyan Parag' here for the Capitals. For once, they have Tristan Stubbs who has brought them in the game.

A brilliant over by Avesh Khan in the 20th over has handed a 12-run win for the Rajasthan Royals over the Delhi Capitals in match 9 of the IPL 2024 in Jaipur. Riyan Parag's 84 earlier was the catalyst as the home team posted a massive 185 on the board. In reply, DC never got going despite David Warner's 49 and some late fightback from Tristan Stubbs as it was too little too late.

RR - 185/5 (20 overs)

DC - 173/5 (20 overs)

Definitely disappointed. Best thing we can do from this is learn from it. The bowlers did really well till 15-16 overs, batters sometimes go on at the death and score quickly, that happened in this game. Marsh and Warner gave a good start, but we lost a few wickets in the middle overs and in the end we had too many runs to cover up. There are other options, we wanted Nortje to bowl at the death and sometimes you can go for runs, hopefully we can do better in the next match.

My plan was clear, one side was longer and I wanted to bowl wide yorkers. I gave myself 5 seconds every ball to think and then execute the plan. If the batters play a good shot, it's good for him, but I always back my yorkers. We have Boult, Burger and Sandy, I've learnt a lot from them. The team management and Kumar Sangakkara have supported us a lot and have made us not worry too much about the fear of failure. I always want to improve, I want to invent new types of deliveries in T20s. I rest and relax well, work hard in the nets and that has let me work on my skills.

"Emotions are settled, mum's here as well. She's seen the struggles, this feels special. I know what my ability is and I never let that change - irrespective of whether I perform or not. A lot to do with the domestic season, where I scored a lot of runs. Someone in the top four has to take it deep. First match, Sanju bhaiya did it, today I did it. I had to work very hard. I was on bed in the last three days. I could manage it today."

 "The way we started, the first ten overs, we were like Rovman, be ready you might have to bat! The IPL is changing and we all have to be flexible. Earlier it was about 11 players, now it is about all 15 players. Me and Sanga had a lot of chat between 15th and 17th over before deciding the Impact Player. It's all about gauging in which zone they are. You have to look at that and take your decision. I saw Sandy was calm and Avesh was also looking good, so i went with that. Riyan Parag has been a big name in the last few years. Wherever I go, people ask me about him. There is something very special he can give to Indian cricket."

9 games this season and all 9 have been won by the home side. That has been the trend in the IPL 2024 so far and it seems there's no stopping. Tomorrow, it's RCB vs KKR, will we see the trend being broken? Let's wait and watch. Till then, its ciao from here.