IPL 2019: Rishabh Pant and Shikhar Dhawan lead Delhi Capitals to 6-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals
Delhi Capitals defeated Rajasthan Royals by six wickets in the 40th match of IPL 2019 played at Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur on Monday. With this win, Delhi Capitals moved to top of the points table.
DC captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss and elected to field. Rajasthan Royals lost an early wicket of Sanju Samson via a brilliant run out by Kagiso Rabada; Samson hadn't faced a ball. But Ajinkya Rahane was in an aggressive mood, putting pressure on the Delhi Capitals bowlers.
RR captain Steve Smith also played with positive intent. At the end of six overs, RR were 52 for 1.
After the powerplay, Rahane and Smith continued their attacking approach. Rahane reached his fifty off just 32 balls while Smith also reached his fifty off 31 balls.
Smith was dismissed by Axar Patel soon after reaching the landmark. He and Rahane had added 130 runs for the 2nd wicket.
After the fall of Smith's wicket, Delhi Capitals restricted the run flow by picking the wickets of Ben Stokes and Ashton Turner. At the other end, Rahane reached his 2nd IPL century off 58 balls.
Rajasthan Royals ended up posting a competitive total of 191 for 6 in 20 overs.
Chasing the target of 192 runs, Shikhar Dhawan played some sumptuous strokes right from the word go while Shaw picked up singles and twos. At the end of six overs, the Delhi Capitals openers had taken the team to 59 for 0.
After the powerplay, Dhawan reached his fifty off just 25 balls. Shreyas Gopal then got the breakthrough by dismissing Dhawan for 54. Dhawan and Shaw had added 72 runs for the opening wicket.
Riyan Parag got the wicket of DC captain Shreyas Iyer for just 4. But that brought Rishabh Pant to the crease, and he immediately starting putting pressure on the Rajasthan Royals bowlers.
It was an amazing display of batting by Pant who looked in total control and made sure that Delhi Capitals remained on course for victory. He reached his fifty off just 26 balls.
Gopal meanwhile got the wicket of Shaw for 42 runs. Pant and Shaw had added 84 runs for the 3rd wicket.
Shane Rutherford scored a quickfire 11 off 5 balls before losing his wicket with two overs to go. Pant stayed till the end and helped DC register a comfortable 6-wicket win.
Brief scores: Delhi Capitals 193 for 4 in 19.2 overs (Rishabh Pant 78*, Shikhar Dhawan 54, Shreyas Gopal 2/47) beat Rajasthan Royals 191 for 6 in 20 overs (Ajinkya Rahane 105*, Steven Smith 50, Kagiso Rabada 2/37, Ishant Sharma 1/29) by 6 wickets.
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