Delhi Capitals stayed in the race for the IPL 2024 playoffs, beating in-form Rajasthan Royals by 20 runs at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Tuesday.
Put in to bat first, the Capitals scored 221 runs in 20 overs, courtesy of whirlwind knocks by Abishek Porel and Jake Fraser-McGurk. While the Royals skipper starred in the run chase, the DC spinners, led by Kuldeep Yadav, set up a magnificent win in an important clash.
The RR captain, Sanju Samson, won the toss and put us in to bat first at Qila Kotla. Gulbadin Naib was rewarded with his debut cap while Ishant Sharma made a comeback.
Batting first at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in IPL 2024 had been very productive for us ahead of the Royals clash. We scored 224/4 against Gujarat Titans before smashing a DC record 257/4 against the Mumbai Indians.
Abishek Porel and Jake Fraser-McGurk opened with two watchful overs from Trent Boult and Sandeep Sharma.
JFM cut loose against Boult in the third over, smashing a six and two fours.
However, in the following over against Avesh Khan, Jake Fraser-McGurk slammed 28 runs to complete his fifty in just 19 balls.
JFM, then, was sadly dismissed by Ravichandran Ashwin in the next over, while Shai Hope, later, was unfortunately run out.
But Porel kept the scoreboard ticking briskly, taking on Riyan Parag and Yuzvendra Chahal. The southpaw was in scintillating touch, scoring his maiden IPL fifty off just 28 balls.
While Axar Patel and Rishabh Pant were dismissed before they could pile on the runs, Porel scored his best IPL score of 65 off 36.
Entrusted with the finishing act again, Tristan Stubbs delivered yet another masterclass. The Protea batter smashed three fours and three sixes, scoring 41 runs off just 20 balls.
Rasikh Dar, coming on as an impact sub, cheekily notched two boundaries off Boult in the penultimate over. The Capitals, meanwhile, finished with 221/7 after 20 overs, thanks to some wonderful knocks.
The defence began in near-perfect fashion. Khaleel Ahmed dismissed the dangerous Yashasvi Jaiswal on just his second ball.
However, Sanju Samson took charge in the powerplay for the Royals, ensuring they scored over 10 runs per over. But in the sixth over, Axar Patel got rid of Jos Buttler, who had started to show signs of scoring freely.
While the RR skipper held their innings together, Riyan Parag also joined in the act. Rasikh Dar, though, ensured it was shortlived for Parag with an audacious slower ball to knock over the in-form Royals batter.
Samson, joined by Shubham Dubey, built a solid partnership for the Royals to keep them in the run chase. The RR skipper looked in imperious touch, leading his team with five overs to go.
But Mukesh Kumar, this time, came with a vital breakthrough, dismissing Samson after a brilliant catch by Shai Hope on the boundary. It followed with Khaleel getting rid of Dubey in the next over.
Kuldeep Yadav, meanwhile, dismissed Donovan Ferreira and R Ashwin in his final over to put Delhi Capitals in the ascendancy.
Mukesh Kumar completed the job in the final over, dismissing Rovman Powell to seal the game for us.
The win ensured that we climbed up to fifth on the IPL 2024 points table with 12 points in 12 matches. Delhi Capitals will go up next against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday, May 12, at 7:30 PM IST.
Brief Scores: Delhi Capitals 221/7 in 20 overs (Abishek Porel 65, Jake Fraser-McGurk 50; Ravichandran Ashwin 3/24) beat Rajasthan Royals 201/8 in 20 overs (Sanju Samson 86; Kuldeep Yadav 2/25, Mukesh Kumar 2/30) by 20 runs.
Player of the Match: Kuldeep Yadav.
