Mitchell Marsh and David Warner shine as Delhi Capitals register a comfortable win over Rajasthan Royals
Thanks to Mitchell Marsh's all-round masterclass, Delhi Capitals beat Rajasthan Royals by eight wickets on Wednesday and cling to their hopes of qualifying for the IPL play-offs
Delhi Capitals stopped Rajasthan Royals at 160 runs and, with the help of Mitchell Marsh's brilliant knock of 89 off 62 and David Warner's unbeaten 52 off 41, chased the target with 11 balls left. This was Delhi Capitals' sixth win in twelve matches.
Ravichandran Ashwin takes the baton after Rajasthan Royals' Jos Buttler fails
Delhi Capitals won the toss at the Dr. DY Patil Sports Academy and sent Rajasthan Royals to bat first. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler opened for their side; however, the English batsman looked a little rusty, which was reflected in the third over.
Chetan Sakariya, who was inducted in the game in place of Khaleel Ahmed, clinched the all-important wicket of Jos Buttler as he tried to go big but ended up giving a catch to Shardul Thakur at mid-on.
Ravichandran Ashwin was sent at number 3, and he did not disappoint. After Jos Buttler's dismissal, the legendary off-spinner played like a premier batsman and gave Rajasthan Royals hope.
Delhi Capitals' bowlers, on the other side, performed well and gave away only 43 runs in the power play overs.
Things turned bad for the Rajasthan Royals when Yashasvi Jaiswal, who was coming off a half-century in the previous game, was taken out by Mitchell Marsh in the ninth over. Jaiswal scored 19 off 19 with one boundary and one six to his name.
Meanwhile, Ashwin continued his knock and got a suitable partner on the other end in Devdutt Padikkal. He scored his first half-century in T20 cricket with his consistent efforts and recorded a score of 50 runs off of 38 balls.
Ashwin hit four boundaries and two sixes in his innings before Mitchell Marsh struck again and took another one of Rajasthan's crucial wickets.
Devdutt Padikkal stayed on the crease and played swift shots even though captain Sanju Samson (6 off 4) and Riyan Parag (9 off 5) were Anrich Nortje and Chetan Sakariya, respectively.
Padikkal was on his way to a half-century, but Nortje struck again as substitute fielder Kamlesh Nagarkoti, who replaced an injured Kuldeep Yadav, took a brilliant running catch.
Padikkal departed for 48 off 30 balls in the nineteenth over; Rassie van der Dussen (12 off 10) and Trent Boult (3 off 3) came up to the crease and helped Rajasthan Royals finish at 160 runs for 6.
Mitchell Marsh and David Warner make it easy for Delhi Capitals
The Delhi Capitals did not start well as they lost their first wicket on the second ball itself. Srikar Bharat, who opened with David Warner, was removed by Trent Boult for a duck as the batsman nicked one behind to the keeper, resulting in a 1 run over.
Delhi Capitals struggled to pace their innings early after Prasidh Krishna bowled his maiden over. Boult, the Kiwi speedster, then bowled a second economical over as DC reached five for one in three overs.
But, both the Australians picked up the pace after Ashwin was brought into the bowling line-up. After starting things off with a maximum of Ashwin's bowling, Marsh did the same for Prasidh Krishna and Kuldeep Sen.
The duo continued their efforts until the eighteenth over, when Yuzvendra Chahal took out Marsh, who scored 89 runs off 62 balls. The Aussie hit seven sixes and five boundaries in his match-winning knock.
David Warner also completed his half-century and, with the help of skipper Rishabh Pant, took Delhi Capitals home with 11 balls left to spare.
Delhi Capitals are 5th in the IPL standings with 12 points and still have some hope to qualify for the play-offs. They will play against Punjab Kings on May 16.
On the other hand, Rajasthan Royals are number 3 on the standings and will play number 2 Lucknow Super Giants on May 15.
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