Delhi Capitals (DC) has managed to pull off a close win of just 13 runs over Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the 30th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020. They only managed to reach the tally pf 161/7 in their quota of 20 overs, but they only managed to defend such total thanks to Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, and Tushar Deshpande. It was their bowling who delivered a victory for the Capitals as they registered their sixth win of the season.
Chasing the 162-run target, the Royals managed to get a fiery start owing to some brilliant batting by Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler. Both of them attacked from the word go, but Nortje was fired up and delivered a 154.8 kph thunderbolt to castle Buttler and have the last laugh after being smashed for back-to-back boundaries.
WATCH – Anrich Nortje Took Revenge From Jos Buttler By Clearing His Stumps
Steve Smith’s poor run in the IPL continued after which Stokes and Sanju Samson tried their best to rebuild the innings. However, the debutant Tushar Deshpande dismissed Stokes and the game started to turn in DC’s favor. Sanju Samson and Riyan Parag were back in the hut soon with the Royals getting reduced to 110/5 in the 14th over. Robin Uthappa kept his team in the game and for the first time in the tournament, he looked comfortable in the middle. The equation was then 39 to get from the last five overs.
Ravi Ashwin bowled a tight 16th over which was backed up well by Kagiso Rabada and the man of the moment Anrich Nortje, who managed to scalp Uthappa and there was no looking back for the Capitals since then. They conceded only 25 runs in the last five overs and had pulled off a sensational win restricting the Royals for just 148/8 in their 20 overs.
Earlier, after opting to bat first, DC’s opener, Prithvi Shaw was dismissed for a golden duck. Jofra Archer castled him off the very first ball of the match and then also bluffed Ajinkya Rahane and the Capitals were then reeling at 10/2. From here on, Shreyas Iyer joined hands with Shikhar Dhawan to add 85 runs for the third wicket. Dhawan scored an enterprising fifty smashing six fours and two sixes.
WATCH – Jofra Archer Celebrated Prithvi Shaw’s Wicket With The Bihu Dance
On the other end, Iyer batted well and took the attack to the opposition then, but the young Kartik Tyagi got the better of him and this turned out to be a crucial moment in the innings. With Alex Carey and Marcus Stoinis finding it difficult to time the ball, the Capitals could only add 29 runs in the last four overs. Jofra Archer spit venom with his all four overs and conceded only 19 runs while picking three wickets as DC were restricted to just 161 runs for the loss of seven wickets.
Hits
Anrich Nortje
Anrich Nortje has always been a go-to bowler for DC and he didn’t disappoint when the team needed him. Bowling his final over and he managed to scalp Robin Uthappa on his first delivery itself. He completed his spell after scalping 2 wickets and conceded just 33 runs.
Shikhar Dhawan
After failing to score consistent runs basis in the first five matches of the IPL 2020, Shikhar Dhawan was desperate to score and he roared when it mattered the most. Dhawan smashed as many as 57 runs in just 33 deliveries with the help of 6 fours and a couple of sixes.
Flops
Steve Smith
Ban form for Steve Smith continued in the IPL as he failed miserably again. RR hasn’t managed to win a single match besides the games in Sharjah.
Riyan Parag
After playing a match-winning knock against SRH in the last game, Riyan Parag was expected to become consistent but he failed again. In order to Royals have a chance to reach the playoffs, Parag needs to be more consistent.
