Mumbai, April 15: David Miller’s combative 43-ball 62 and Chris Morris’ timely onslaught (36 not out) powered Rajasthan Royals to a dramatic three-wicket win over Delhi Capitals in their IPL match, here on Thursday.
Opting to bowl, RR pacer Jaydev Unadkat took three wickets for 15 runs to restrict the Capitals to 147 for eight.
Miller then anchored the Royals’ chase but it was Morris whose blitzkrieg took Royals home with two balls to spare. It is Royals’ first win of the season.
The Royals were 17 for 3 in the fourth over and 42 for 5 at the halfway mark. They needed 58 from the last five overs and 12 from the final over. Morris ended the run chase with a six off Tom Curran.
The Royals’ run chase was, however, in tatters from the start. Chris Woakes removed openers Manan Vohra (9) and Jos Buttler (1) in a space of three balls in the third over.
In the next over, Kagiso Rabada dismissed the dangerous Royals captain Sanju Samson – the only centurion so far this season – with Shikhar Dhawan taking a catch at slips.
Shivam Dube (2) perished while playing an unnecessary uppish shot at a length ball off Avesh Khan with Dhawan taking his 78th catch of the IPL. The same pair worked in tandem two overs later with Dhawan taking his third catch of the day after Riyan Parag (2) had miscued an Avesh Khan delivery.
The Royals were 52 for 5 at the halfway mark and by then the asking rate has gone up to nearly 10 an over. But, Miller and Rahul Tewatia (19) kept the Royals in the hunt with a 48-run stand for the sixth wicket.
Earlier, a brilliant three-wicket burst from pacer Jaydev Unadkat helped RR restrict DC to 147 for eight. Unadkat dismissed Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane to trigger DC’s top-order collapse from which they never recovered fully.
Captain Rishabh Pant’s blistering 32-ball 51, studded with nine fours, was not enough as DC could only post a modest total after being put in to bat.
DC made a disastrous start as they were two wickets down for 16 runs in the fourth over with Unadkat dismissing the opening duo of Shaw (2) and Dhawan (9) cheaply. (PTI)
