Delhi Capitals defeated Rajasthan Royals by 20 runs in a close encounter at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Tuesday, May 7. The Capitals snatched the win to remain in contention for a spot in the top four. With the victory, DC have now hopped to number five on the points table and a miraculous turn of fate is hovering around them.
The victory didn’t come easy for the Capitals as they were tested in the second innings, struggling to put a full stop to unstoppable Royals captain, Sanju Samson. Things were all under control for the visitors till the 15th over, but the tables turned drastically for the team in pink as they lost their flag bearer, Samson.
In the 16th over, Samson went down the ground off Mukesh’s delivery but Shai Hope took the catch by the ropes at long-on. From one angle, it looked as if he touched the rope but from the other, he didn’t, and the big screen flashed ‘OUT’. Samson looked furious but couldn’t do much as he walked back to the pavilion, and with him, followed RR’s chances of winning as well.
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Shubham Dubey, who had kept things in place with Samson, also lost track and went soon after. Kuldeep Yadav saw a big opportunity and struck twice in the 18th over, taking RR away from the hunt. He trapped Donovan Ferreira on the front foot and then bowled a wide one to Ashwin, with Hope again doing things right at long-on. Rovman Powell did try to take the game deep, but the shaky lower order was exposed and the Royals lost four wickets for 23 runs, and the Capitals got their smiles back.
Sanju Samson – The Beast
Samson has been terrific this season with the bat, amassing 471 runs in 11 matches to become the third-highest run-scorer of the season and the highest for the Royals. Contrary to the previous IPL editions, he has looked consistent, settled, and poised while being aggressive in his batting this year.
Samson stood tall against the Capitals as he made the best of the powerplay, scoring 41 off 16. He didn’t let the pacers settle in the first six overs. He smashed Khaleel Ahmed for a six and a four. He then silenced Ishant Sharma with two boundaries and a maximum in the next over. However, Jos Buttler’s wicket in the last over of the powerplay did force Rajasthan to lower the gear.
But, not for too long, as Samson flexed his muscles after bringing up his fifty with a six and reignited the chase. He smacked Rasikh Salam for 16 runs in the 13th over. On the other end, Shubham Dubey kept things in place.
What looked like an easy chase for RR, ended in a strong defence from DC.
The Unstoppable Fraser-McGurk
For the fourth time, the 200-run mark was breached in the first innings in Delhi as the Royals asked the Capitals to bat first. Under immense pressure to stay alive in the qualification race, the young Australian went berserk from the first over. He brought up his quick-fire fifty off just 19 balls, including seven fours and three sixes. The rookie took a special liking for Avesh Khan, off whom he hit four boundaries and two sixes in his first over. Fraser-McGurk, however, could not build on that fifty as in the next over itself, he holed out to a Ravichandran Ashwin full toss. Soon after, Shai Hope went back in an unfortunate run-out.
After 78 runs in the powerplay, the Capitals needed a player to build on their phenomenal start. Abhishek Porel took the driver’s seat and was clever enough to find boundaries at regular intervals. However, Axar Patel and DC captain, Rishabh Pant, both were underwhelming against the Royals as the Capitals looked to be in a spot of bother as a 200+ score seemed a bit far away. However, Tristan Stubbs played a superb cameo in the death overs and took DC to 221 in 20 overs.
What looked like an average total at the end of the first innings, proved to be enough for the home side.
Brief scores: Delhi Capitals 221/8 in 20 overs (Abhishek Porel 65; Jake Fraser-McGurk 50; Kuldeep Yadav 2-25,) beat Rajasthan Royals 194/8 in 20 overs (Sanju Samson 86 off 46; Ravichandran Ashwin 3-24) by 20 runs
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