Jaipur, April 12: Rajasthan Royals tasted their first victory in their second league game of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018 as they defeated Delhi Daredevils by 10 runs via DLS Method in the game that was truncated by rain.
After having set the target of 71 runs from 6 overs, Rajasthan bowlers put up a disciplined effort to ensure the visitors remain 11 short of the target when the final ball of their innings was bowled.
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Delhi were off to a disastrous start in the tricky run chase as they needed nearly 12 runs per over and lost their opener, Colin Munro, on the very first ball of the run chase. Munro was run out without facing a single delivery due to the mix-up between him and his partner Glenn Maxwell. Spinner Krishappa Gowtham started the proceedings with the ball for the hosts and conceded just 10 from the only over he bowled.
Match 6 - @rajasthanroyals beat #DD by 10 runs (DLS) method.#RRvDD #VIVOIPL pic.twitter.com/0coabpM8s0
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 11, 2018
Dhawal Kulkarni bowled the second over for his team and gave away just 4 runs and brought the batting pair of Rishabh Pant and Maxwell under pressure. This season's costliest bowler, Jaydev Unadkat, was introduced in the third over by skipper Rahane and bowled three back-to-back dot balls to Maxwell, but the Australian hit a six, and two fours on the next three deliveries to score 14 runs from that over. By the end of third over, Delhi were 29/1.
🏏 MAN OF THE MATCH 🏏
— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) April 11, 2018
Smashing @IamSanjuSamson
3⃣7⃣ off 2⃣2⃣ balls.
SR - 168.18#RRvDD #JazbaJeetKa #HallaBol #VIVOIPL
Ben Laughlin bowled the fourth over and accounted for the wicket of Maxwell who was trying to find his groove. The over ended with a wicket and 7 runs and had almost ensured Rajasthan had good 35 runs to defend from the remaining 12 deliveries.
Unadkat came with the fifth over and removed Pant (20) and conceded just 10 from it. Laughlin then ensured the Royals had the last laugh as they kept their record of remaining unbeaten at their den intact. It was the ninth successive win for them at home.
With this win, Royals registered their first win in the tournament. Daredevils, however, would have to wait for their next chance to taste a win in the tournament as they lost two of their away games.
W - W - W - W - W - W - W - W - W
— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) April 11, 2018
😎-😎-😎-😎-😎-😎-😎-😎-😎
Ninth Consecutive Win at SMS, Jaipur!
We haven't lost a match at home since IPL 2012.
Big shout-out to our fans for your unwavering support!#RRvDD #JazbaJeetKa #HallaBol #VIVOIPL
The fans witnessed an exciting finish after the rain hampered good two and a half hours of the game. Sometimes the rain brings out good cricket and it certainly did here as we saw the six-over showdown in which the Royals bowled extremely well.
The bowlers used change-ups to prevent the Daredevils' batsman from settling and they have secured victory here tonight to get themselves off the mark in this competition.
The Daredevils need to go back to the thinking board though, with two defeats from two so far in this competition. Royals were 153 for 5 in the 18th over when rain gods forced the match to be stopped at Sawai Mansingh Stadium as IPL returned to this venue after a gap of five years.
Rahul Tripathi was batting on 15 and K Gowtham on two when covers were called in.
However, it wasn't a good start for Royals in the beginning as their opener D'Arcy Short, who opened the innings along with skipper Rahane, was dismissed cheaply. Short's stay into the middle proved to be a short-lived one as he was run out for the second consecutive time in the tournament.
💥 ROYAL WIN 💥
— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) April 11, 2018
We win by 10 runs!
One of many more to come!#RRvDD #JazbaJeetKa #HallaBol #VIVOIPL pic.twitter.com/Wt3ijzgncN
If he paid the price for his own folly in the previous game against Sunrisers, he was unlucky tonight as he failed to refuse the skipper's call for a second run. He fell way short of the crease as the direct hit from mid-on region by Vijay Shankar hit the bull's eye. Short had scored just 6 when he made his descent towards the pavilion.
Team's most important batsman Ben Stokes walked into the middle after Short's dismissal and started scoring aggressively. But the England all-rounder too didn't last long at the crease as he was deceived by a gem of a delivery from Trent Boult, who was brought into the attack for his third over in the powerplay.
Now that could have been a test match dismissal at Wellington. Brilliant from Boult and a huge wicket. #RRvDD
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) April 11, 2018
It was a beauty of a delivery from the New Zealand pacer as he angled it in and squared Stokes up. The ball came off the outside edge from the left-hander's bat and went into the hands of Rishabh Pant behind the stumps who took a good catch.
Rahane, then played a second fiddle as young Sanju Samson walked into the middle and started scoring from the word go. Together they added 62 runs for the third wicket, with Samson being the aggressor. The wicketkeeper-batsman added 37 off 22 before he was cleaned up by Shahbaz Nadeem.
Tewatia repaid the faith shown in him. Fairly economical on a pitch that isn’t offering anything to the spinners. #RRvDD #IPL
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) April 11, 2018
Nadeem accounted for another big wicket in his next over as he dismissed Rahane for 45 and the hosts lost another vital wicket at a critical time. Rahane went just five short of his half-century as he tried to work the ball through the leg side but it rose up and Rahane only managed to get a leading edge. The ball spooned to Chris Morris at point who was himself surprised after pouching the ball safely in his hands as he wasn't anticipating the ball to come in his direction.
"You wouldn't miss a game like this when you're in Jaipur!"
— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) April 11, 2018
How many #RoyalFans watching the game?#RRvDD #JazbaJeetKa #HallaBol #VIVOIPL pic.twitter.com/4nqdlU7DvE
Jos Buttler (29 off 18 balls) played a brilliant cameo along with Rahul Tripathi and accumulated 18 runs from the 17th over bowled by Chris Morris and took them past 150. However, before he could become a threat he was bowled by a slow yorker from Shami. Soon after his dismissal rain stopped play when the hosts' scoreline read 153/5 after 17.5 overs.