Delhi Capitals showed brilliant team effort to humble Rajasthan Royals by 46 runs in an IPL 2020 match in Sharjah on Friday. Shimron Hetmyer's 45 off 24 balls and then three brilliant catches in the outfield proved decisive for Delhi who scored their fifth win in six matches to go on top of the IPL standings.
Batting failure once again hurt Rajasthan Royals and although Rahul Tewatia top scored with a 38, it was too late. Kagiso Rabada finished with three wickets for 35 as Rajasthan Royals were all out for 138 in 19.4 overs, needing 185 to win.
Ravichandran Ashwin and Marcus Stoinis chipped in two crucial wickets at the top of the innings and those included the top RR batsmen -- Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson and Mahipal Lomror.
Steve Smith admitted that "there was a lot of work to do" and RR had to "turn things around quickly."
This was a good win for Delhi Capitals ahead of Sunday's big game against Mumbai Indians. Rajasthan Royals suffered their fourth straight defeat and Steve Smith team has looked in all sorts of trouble after a good start.
Desperate to snap their three-match losing streak, RR opted to field and the bowling unit delivered with Jofra Archer (3/24) taking three wickets and spinner Rahul Tewatia (1/20) and Kartik Tyagi (1/35) capturing one each.
Playing his first IPL match this season, Andrew Tye also took one wicket but he conceded 50 in his four overs. The Capitals' posted the lowest first innings total at the ground this season.
The two run outs of the dangerous Shreyas Iyer (22 off 18) and Rishabh Pant (5) also proved crucial. However, Hetmyer's 45, studded with five sixes, and Marcus Stoinis's 39 off 30 balls gave DC enough runs on the board.
7:03 PM IST: Steve Smith wins the toss and Rajasthan Royals will bowl first.
7:11 PM IST: Two changes for Rajasthan Royals. Ankit Rajpoot and Tom Curran made way for Andrew Tye and Varun Aaron. This is Aussie speedster Tye's first match for the Royals. Delhi Capitals are unchanged.
Rajasthan Royals: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler (wk), Steven Smith (c), Sanju Samson, Mahipal Lomror, Rahul Tewatia, Jofra Archer, Andrew Tye, Shreyas Gopal, Kartik Tyagi, Varun Aaron.
Delhi Capitals: Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Marcus Stoinis, Shimron Hetmyer, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Harshal Patel, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje.
