Rajasthan Royals (RR) beat Delhi Capitals (DC) by three wickets in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match in Mumbai on Thursday, thanks to David Miller’s combative 43-ball 62 and Chris Morris’ timely onslaught (36 not out). RR pacer Jaydev Unadkat, who chose to bowl, took three wickets for 15 runs to limit the DC to 147 for eight. The RR chase was then led by Miller, but Morris’ blitzkrieg brought RR home with two balls to spare for their first win of the season.
In the fourth over, RR were 17 for 3 and 52 for 5 at the halfway point. They needed 58 runs in the final five overs and 12 runs in the final over. Morris finished the chase by hitting Tom Curran for a six.
The RR run-chase, on the other hand, was in shambles from the start. In the third over, Chris Woakes removed openers Manan Vohra (9) and Jos Buttler (1) in the span of three bats.
Kagiso Rabada dismissed the risky RR captain Sanju Samson, the season’s only centurion, with Shikhar Dhawan taking the catch at slip in the next over.
Shivam Dube (2) was caught by Shikhar Dhawan for his 78th IPL catch while playing an unwanted uppish shot at a length ball from Avesh Khan. After Riyan Parag (2) miscued an Avesh Khan delivery, the same pair teamed up again two overs later, with Dhawan taking his third catch of the day.
At the halfway point, RR was 52 for 5, and the asking rate had risen to nearly 10 per cent. Miller and Rahul Tewatia (19) held RR in contention with a 48-run sixth-wicket stand before Rabada returned to give DC the much-needed breakthrough.
Earlier, pacer Jaydev Unadkat’s three-wicket burst helped RR restrict DC to 147 for eight.
DC’s top-order collapse was triggered by Unadkat’s (3/15 off 4 overs) dismissals of Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, and Ajinkya Rahane, from which they never completely recovered.
DC could only manage a modest total after being put in to bat, despite captain Rishabh Pant’s blistering 32-ball 51, which included nine fours. DC got off to a bad start, losing two wickets for 16 runs in the fourth over, with Unadkat dismissing the opening pair of Shaw (2) and Dhawan (9) for a pittance.
In the second over, Shaw was the first to fall, caught at backward point, before Dhawan was caught at backward point while attempting a ramp shot, with RR captain and wicketkeeper Sanju Samson taking a spectacular diving catch to his right.
Ajinkya Rahane’s (8) poor IPL form continued as he provided Unadkat with a simple caught and bowled opportunity with a slow ball that clocked in at just 110km/h.
DC were 36 for 3 at the end of the power play, but their woes continued when Marcus Stonis (0), foxed by a Mustafizur Rahman (2/29) delivery, tested his shot at the last moment to give Jos Buttler a running catch.
When captain Pant came to the crease, the run rate began to pick up, but DC were still 57 for 4 at the halfway point. Pant opened up after getting a good sense of the pitch and hit four boundaries, three of which were consecutive, to take 20 runs off Rahul Tewatia’s 11th over.
Pant, who has been in excellent form this year, reached his fifty off 30 balls with a four off Mustafizur in the 12th over, but he was run out the next over when bowler Riyan Parag’s throw smashed into the stumps. The score at the time was 88 for 5.
Following Pant’s departure, Tom Curran gave the DC innings some respectability with a 16-ball 21.