Delhi Capitals climb back to the top of the table with an emphatic 33-run win over the Rajasthan Royals on Saturday in Abu Dhabi.
Chasing 155 on a tacky surface became much more challenging for the Royals as they lost both the openers, Liam Livingstone and Yashasvi Jaiswal, in the first couple of overs of their innings, both nicking through to Rishabh Pant, who then also affected the stumping of David Miller off the bowling of R Ashwin, leaving RR reeling on 17/3.
Sanju Samson and Mahipal Lomror halted the wicket-flow for a while, but both batted at less than run-a-ball during the revival phase. The fall of wickets resumed as Lomror lost his wicket to Kagiso Rabada and Riyan Parag was castled by Axar Patel. The RR skipper, who would go on to raise his fifty and remain unbeaten, did stroked a few boundaries but it was too late by then.
Earlier, after being put in to bat first by Samson, DC openers Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw found it difficult to get going – they managed just a single boundary in the first three overs – as the Royals’ bowlers adjusted nicely to the surface in Abu Dhabi which was uncharacteristic to how it had been so far.
The left-hander fell to Kartik Tyagi for 8 off 8 in the fourth over before Shaw (10 off 12) followed him back next over, courtesy of some smart change of pace from Chetan Sakariya. Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer, the current captain and the former captain, picked up the innings with occasional boundaries before the latter turned aggressor smacking the RR spinners Rahul Tewatia and Tabraiz Shamsi for maximums.
The skipper was bowled by Mustafizur Rahman in the 12th over. A couple of overs later, Iyer (43 off 32) was stumped sharply by Samson after missing a Rahul Tewatia delivery. Shimron Hetmyer started off in promising fashion stroking 5 boundaries from his first 14 balls, but fell soon to Mustafizur. Axar Patel (12 off 7) and Lalit Yadav (14* off 15) managed to trudge the innings over 150.
Twitter was buzzed with this victory of the Capitals on Saturday.
Twitter Reacts As Delhi Capitals Go To The Top Of The Table With Victory Over Rajasthan Royals:
Sanju banging out 70* (50) going after 150 should have been the backbone of that chase. Wouldn't have taken much in terms of other contributions to make that a really straightforward win. Huge missed opportunity for RR. #IPL2021
— Ben Jones (@benjonescricket) September 25, 2021
Delhi got 2 points.
Sanju Samson got 69.
I think Sanju Samson is more beneficial.#DCvRR
— Sunil The Cricketer (@1sInto2s) September 25, 2021
Since start of IPL 2016, 55 batters have faced 500 balls. David Miller is in 54th position in terms of SR and 52nd in terms of Avg. There are more overseas options that could have been tried in this period. Nothing much to lose I would like to believe. #DCvRR
— Gaurav Sundararaman (@gaurav_sundar) September 25, 2021
Pant captaincy Impressive 👏👏#DCvRR
— JAVID.NTR™🇮🇳 (@javidNtr111) September 25, 2021
Another amazing win for DC. The bowling unit was on top today. Congrats @DelhiCapitals . #DCvRR
— Gayathri (@Yath_lol) September 25, 2021
Delhi don't deserve ipl trophy,
ipl trophy deserve Delhi this year. #DCvRR #IPL2021— Aditya raj (@adityaraj2kfrek) September 25, 2021
Second consecutive finals for #DelhiCapitals #IPL2021
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) September 25, 2021
#DelhiCapitals moves to the top of the points table in #IPL2021 with 16 points.
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) September 25, 2021
Delhi Capitals are now the Table Toppers of IPL 2021 and have almost qualified for the playoffs.
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) September 25, 2021
What a sensational bowling effort from @DelhiCapitals to defend this. Total bowling unit with all 5 wicket taking bowlers. Great stuff from them. @gargi_rastogi06 get ready with another song at night. @TrishaGhosal ensure she has the guitar!! @RajarshiGupta_8
— Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar) September 25, 2021
Top class innings from Sanju Samson. The gulf between him and the other batsmen has been there to see.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) September 25, 2021
Sanju Samson’s playing a brilliant hand, but by himself may not be able to turn the tables on #DC. Tewatia must come to the party too. Match has been infused with life, whatever the outcome
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) September 25, 2021
Sanju Samson right now..#DCvRR #sanjusamson #rr #IPL2021 #IPL2O21 #iplmemes pic.twitter.com/PAQfkwxg35
— Khushboo Singh (@Aye_masakali) September 25, 2021
Delhi capitals on top of points table#DCvRR #DelhiCapitals pic.twitter.com/qJ7fWQ7X3u
— Lagya-टुच (@gupta96_) September 25, 2021
Delhi Capitals have Best Bowling Line-up in this #IPL2021 . – What a line-up. Class Fast Bowlers, Class Spinners. #DCvRR pic.twitter.com/lzX5kF2iIy
— CricketMAN2 (@man4_cricket) September 25, 2021
After 1st 10 IPL matches
Most Wins as Captain
8 – Rishabh Pant*
8 – Rohit Sharma
8 – Gautam Gambhir
8 – Shane Warne
8 – George Bailey
8 – Kane Williamson#DCvRR— S H E B A S (@Shebas_10) September 25, 2021
Super composed performance by @DelhiCapitals – what a bowling unit this is! Congratulations to the team – let’s bring home the @IPL boys – we can’t rest till the cup comes to the capital!
— Parth Jindal (@ParthJindal11) September 25, 2021
Another win for Delhi Capitals and a very good one at that. Well played Rishabh and co 👏🏼 great stuff #DCvRR
— Chloe-Amanda Bailey (@ChloeAmandaB) September 25, 2021
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