DC vs RR in 50 Words
Shreyas and Shikhar’s fifties steadied the ship after an early jolt and lifted us to a modest total of 161/7. We could wax lyrical about Nortje and Co.’s match-winning performance under pressure for about three days straight. But if we had to put it in one word - Resilient.
Capitals Muster Modest Total Thanks to Shikhar, Shreyas Fifties
Shreyas Iyer won the toss and opted to bat first, an important one to win considering the patterns in this tournament so far. However, everything that could have gone wrong for us at the start of the innings, did.
Jofra Archer hit the timber to send Prithvi Shaw back after the first delivery of the game. Rahane came in at number 3 and played a few deliveries to get himself accustomed to the pitch. But, Jinks too lost his wicket to Jofra off an attempted pull soon after.
As the skipper joined him in the middle, Shikhar Dhawan had two options - to consolidate conservatively or to counter-attack. Gabbar chose the latter. It started with a perfectly timed pull over fine leg off Tyagi, Ben Stokes had a fierce cut played off his bowling, and Tyagi took the brunt again in his next over with two more cracking shots. From a dire situation, we had reached a decent 47/2 at the end of the powerplay and Dhawan was on 30* off 15 with a strike rate of 200.
As the field spread out, Iyer and Shikhar got singles and doubles with the odd boundary. The run rate didn’t dip though, with the number hovering around the 8-run mark midway through the innings as well.
Gabbar brought up a 30-ball fifty from the last ball of the 11th over, and deposited a massive six over mid-wicket off the very next delivery.
Sorry Gabbar, we jinxed it 😔
— Delhi Capitals (Tweeting from 🇦🇪) (@DelhiCapitals) October 14, 2020
Special knock nonetheless 👏🏻
DC - 95/3 (11.4)#DCvRR #Dream11IPL #YehHaiNayiDilli https://t.co/g1qhFoR7Cx
Alas, it was to be his last boundary as a momentum-changing innings came to an end on 57 from 33 balls. The in-form Stoinis joined his skipper at the crease and Iyer took on the role of the aggressor as the Aussie found his rhythm. Unadkat in particular took a beating, as Iyer smashed two towering sixes over mid-wicket. The second one brought up an important fifty.
In a bid to smash another maximum, Shreyas skied one to Jofra at long off who couldn’t do any wrong tonight. Nonetheless, Shreyas’ knock of 53 had put us in a good position at 132/4 after 16 overs.
Alex Carey played what was probably the shot of the innings, a fierce cut over point to collect a rare six off Jofra Archer’s bowling. Stoinis wasn’t his fluent self on the night, departing for 18 as Jofra accounted for his third scalp in the penultimate over. The last three overs only yielded 18 runs as the Royals executed their plans at the death very well. We were about 15 runs short of what we’d have liked, but 161 runs on the board were defendable with our bowling attack.
Resilient Bowling Attack Delivers Emphatic Win
Just like the first innings, Royals’ chase too started just the way we didn’t want it to. Stokes and Buttler got off to a flier with some top quality strokeplay on both sides of the wicket to hit four boundaries in the first two overs.
Anrich Nortje was bowling some serious heat, but Buttler took him for two fours and a huge six before the South African roared back in style to bowl him with a ripper.
Kisiko @AnrichNortje02 ke deliveries dikh rahe hain kya? 🔥#DCvRR #Dream11IPL #YehHaiNayiDilli pic.twitter.com/yU22K1X2li
— Delhi Capitals (Tweeting from 🇦🇪) (@DelhiCapitals) October 14, 2020
Ravi Ashwin bowled a beauty of a first over and got rid of Steve Smith, again off the last ball of the over. Two big wickets in the powerplay despite a few boundaries, we’d have taken that at the start.
The fielding restrictions had ended, but Stokes and Samson’s free-flowing shots hadn’t. The Royals had already scored half the target at the end of the ninth over.
The run rate was in Rajasthan’s favour, what we needed was wickets and quick ones at that. The debutant Tushar Deshpande delivered just what the doctor ordered, the wicket of Ben Stokes with a slower one that completely deceived him.
The danger man was out for 41. Axar Patel followed with an arm ball that took the poles behind Samson in the next over. Axar was changing the game with his fielding too, running out Parag with a direct hit in his next over.
View this post on InstagramAxar iss duniya mein, game-changers milte hain 💙🔥 #DCvRR #Dream11IPL #YehHaiNayiDilli
But, it wasn’t all flawless in the field, as Nortje dropped a relatively easy catch on the fine leg fence off the first ball Tewatia faced. Nerves. Nerves everywhere.
39 were required from the final five overs, a tough ask to defend. But, the bowlers still had a lot of fight in them. Ashwin used all his experience and skill to bowl a 2-run 16th over. Nortje bowled an impeccable 18th to give away just four runs and castle Uthappa with a searing yorker. Just when we thought Rabada’s 21-game streak of IPL games with at least one wicket would come to an end, he proved us wrong with the wicket of Jofra Archer.
The rookie Tushar Deshpande was entrusted with the responsibility of defending 22 in the final over, and he delivered emphatically. The first ball was launched into the night sky in Dubai’s ring of fire, but Jinks pulled off one of the saves of the tournament to deny RR the six.
Tushar hit the blockhole consistently and helped us register a 13-run heist. Thousands of miles away, a nervous grandmother and millions of DC fans would have beamed with pride.
Brief Scores
Delhi Capitals 161/7 in 20 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 57 off 33, Shreyas Iyer 53 off 43, Jofra Archer 3/19, Jaydev Unadkat 2/32); Rajasthan Royals 148/8 in 20 overs (Ben Stokes 41 off 35, Robin Uthappa 32 off 27, Anrich Nortje 2/33, Tushar Deshpande 2/37)
DC vs RR in 50 Words
Shreyas and Shikhar’s fifties steadied the ship after an early jolt and lifted us to a modest total of 161/7. We could wax lyrical about Nortje and Co.’s match-winning performance under pressure for about three days straight. But if we had to put it in one word - Resilient.
Capitals Muster Modest Total Thanks to Shikhar, Shreyas Fifties
Shreyas Iyer won the toss and opted to bat first, an important one to win considering the patterns in this tournament so far. However, everything that could have gone wrong for us at the start of the innings, did.
Jofra Archer hit the timber to send Prithvi Shaw back after the first delivery of the game. Rahane came in at number 3 and played a few deliveries to get himself accustomed to the pitch. But, Jinks too lost his wicket to Jofra off an attempted pull soon after.
As the skipper joined him in the middle, Shikhar Dhawan had two options - to consolidate conservatively or to counter-attack. Gabbar chose the latter. It started with a perfectly timed pull over fine leg off Tyagi, Ben Stokes had a fierce cut played off his bowling, and Tyagi took the brunt again in his next over with two more cracking shots. From a dire situation, we had reached a decent 47/2 at the end of the powerplay and Dhawan was on 30* off 15 with a strike rate of 200.
As the field spread out, Iyer and Shikhar got singles and doubles with the odd boundary. The run rate didn’t dip though, with the number hovering around the 8-run mark midway through the innings as well.
Gabbar brought up a 30-ball fifty from the last ball of the 11th over, and deposited a massive six over mid-wicket off the very next delivery.
Sorry Gabbar, we jinxed it 😔
— Delhi Capitals (Tweeting from 🇦🇪) (@DelhiCapitals) October 14, 2020
Special knock nonetheless 👏🏻
DC - 95/3 (11.4)#DCvRR #Dream11IPL #YehHaiNayiDilli https://t.co/g1qhFoR7Cx
Alas, it was to be his last boundary as a momentum-changing innings came to an end on 57 from 33 balls. The in-form Stoinis joined his skipper at the crease and Iyer took on the role of the aggressor as the Aussie found his rhythm. Unadkat in particular took a beating, as Iyer smashed two towering sixes over mid-wicket. The second one brought up an important fifty.
In a bid to smash another maximum, Shreyas skied one to Jofra at long off who couldn’t do any wrong tonight. Nonetheless, Shreyas’ knock of 53 had put us in a good position at 132/4 after 16 overs.
Alex Carey played what was probably the shot of the innings, a fierce cut over point to collect a rare six off Jofra Archer’s bowling. Stoinis wasn’t his fluent self on the night, departing for 18 as Jofra accounted for his third scalp in the penultimate over. The last three overs only yielded 18 runs as the Royals executed their plans at the death very well. We were about 15 runs short of what we’d have liked, but 161 runs on the board were defendable with our bowling attack.
Resilient Bowling Attack Delivers Emphatic Win
Just like the first innings, Royals’ chase too started just the way we didn’t want it to. Stokes and Buttler got off to a flier with some top quality strokeplay on both sides of the wicket to hit four boundaries in the first two overs.
Anrich Nortje was bowling some serious heat, but Buttler took him for two fours and a huge six before the South African roared back in style to bowl him with a ripper.
Kisiko @AnrichNortje02 ke deliveries dikh rahe hain kya? 🔥#DCvRR #Dream11IPL #YehHaiNayiDilli pic.twitter.com/yU22K1X2li
— Delhi Capitals (Tweeting from 🇦🇪) (@DelhiCapitals) October 14, 2020
Ravi Ashwin bowled a beauty of a first over and got rid of Steve Smith, again off the last ball of the over. Two big wickets in the powerplay despite a few boundaries, we’d have taken that at the start.
The fielding restrictions had ended, but Stokes and Samson’s free-flowing shots hadn’t. The Royals had already scored half the target at the end of the ninth over.
The run rate was in Rajasthan’s favour, what we needed was wickets and quick ones at that. The debutant Tushar Deshpande delivered just what the doctor ordered, the wicket of Ben Stokes with a slower one that completely deceived him.
The danger man was out for 41. Axar Patel followed with an arm ball that took the poles behind Samson in the next over. Axar was changing the game with his fielding too, running out Parag with a direct hit in his next over.
View this post on InstagramAxar iss duniya mein, game-changers milte hain 💙🔥 #DCvRR #Dream11IPL #YehHaiNayiDilli
But, it wasn’t all flawless in the field, as Nortje dropped a relatively easy catch on the fine leg fence off the first ball Tewatia faced. Nerves. Nerves everywhere.
39 were required from the final five overs, a tough ask to defend. But, the bowlers still had a lot of fight in them. Ashwin used all his experience and skill to bowl a 2-run 16th over. Nortje bowled an impeccable 18th to give away just four runs and castle Uthappa with a searing yorker. Just when we thought Rabada’s 21-game streak of IPL games with at least one wicket would come to an end, he proved us wrong with the wicket of Jofra Archer.
The rookie Tushar Deshpande was entrusted with the responsibility of defending 22 in the final over, and he delivered emphatically. The first ball was launched into the night sky in Dubai’s ring of fire, but Jinks pulled off one of the saves of the tournament to deny RR the six.
Tushar hit the blockhole consistently and helped us register a 13-run heist. Thousands of miles away, a nervous grandmother and millions of DC fans would have beamed with pride.
Brief Scores
Delhi Capitals 161/7 in 20 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 57 off 33, Shreyas Iyer 53 off 43, Jofra Archer 3/19, Jaydev Unadkat 2/32); Rajasthan Royals 148/8 in 20 overs (Ben Stokes 41 off 35, Robin Uthappa 32 off 27, Anrich Nortje 2/33, Tushar Deshpande 2/37)
