IPL 2023, Rajasthan Royals (RR) vs Delhi Capitals (DC), Top Performances: Yashasvi Jaiswal-Jos Buttler's 98-run stand, Trent Boult's 3-29 and Shimron Hetmyer's 39* are top performances. Rajasthan beat Delhi Capitals and move to first place in points table.
Brief Scores: RR 199/4 (Buttler 79, Jaiswal 60, Mukhesh 2/36) beat DC 142/9 (Warner 65, Ashwin 3/27, Boult 3/29) by 57 runs
Player of the Match: Yashasvi Jaiswal (60 runs in 31 balls)
Rajasthan Royals (RR) who after a heavy win to start their campaign lost their last game against Punjab Kings (PBKS), locked horns with Delhi Capitals who were yet to open their account with two back-to-back defeats, for the 11th game of the sixteenth season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati on Saturday.
Both the teams had a perfect 50-50 record prior to this game, with both winning 12 encounters facing each other.
Royals go to the top of points table with a heavy 57-run victory
Delhi Capitals captain David Warner on winning the toss opted to field first on a track which looked a solid wicket for batting with the added cushion of small size boundaries. Rajasthan dropped Mohammad Asif and Devdutt Padikkal for Dhruv Jurel and Sandeep Sharma, while Delhi included Rovman Powell, Manish Pandey and Lalit Yadav.
Put in to bat first, Rajasthan Royals shouldering on the opening partnership between Jos Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal powered them to 68/0 in the powerplay before the 97-run opening stand carried them to 103/2 at the halfway mark. Delhi spinners pulled their side back in the game reducing RR to 130/3 in 15 overs. But some fireworks from Shimron Hetmyer pushed them to 199/4 in their allotted 20 overs.
Chasing 200, Delhi Capitals lost two wickets in the opening over to be reduced at 38/3 at the end of the platform. They found themselves at 68/3 after 10 overs before the 64-run stand between Lalit Yadav and David Warner carried them to 118/6 after 16 overs. They could reach only 142/9 at the end of 20 overs to lose their third consecutive game by 57 runs.
Talking Point: Warner’s poor strike rate along with Delhi’s batting failure
David Warner who is known to take on the bowlers from the start with a career strike rate of 140.04 in 165 games, has had a really poor season in terms of strike rate. In all the three games so far, he has a very poor strike rate of under 120.
The combination of his poor speed along with three poor shows from the batting unit of Delhi Capitals is making it really tough for the Delhi franchise. They need to rectify their batting issues very quickly in the rest of the season.
Let’s scan the top three performances from the game between RR and DC in IPL 2023
Buttler-Jaiswal set platform with a 98-run opening stand
In their opening game of the season, Rajasthan Royals put up a show with 85-run opening stand in just 35 balls against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and both Jos Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal displayed another special show.
Jaiswal crunched five boundaries in the opening over against Khaleel Ahmed in the opening over of the game to now have 25 unbeaten T20 runs in nine balls in their face-off at a strike rate of 277.78. Buttler took the same route with three boundaries against Anrich Nortje to now have 65 T20 runs in 36 balls in the face-off at a strike rate of 180.6. Jaiswal also cracked Axar Patel for three back-to-boundaries between point and short third man before celebrating his fifth IPL fifty in 25 balls.
Even though he was dismissed on 60 in 31 balls against Kuldeep Yadav to now have 672 IPL runs in 26 games against the latter, Buttler kept on going. He slowed up a bit after reaching his 17th IPL fifty in 32 balls.
The current Orange Cap holder, Jos Buttler was dismissed on 79 in 51 balls with the help of 11 fours and 1 six to now have 2983 IPL runs in 85 games.
Read More: IPL 2023: RR seem to lose the plot while chasing; experimentation with batting order proving fatal
Trent Boult punctured Delhi with 3/29
Trent Boult has a knack of taking early wickets in the first over of the innings, just like he bowled a double wicket maiden over against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).
On the third ball of his first over, Boult removed Prithvi Shaw on a three-ball duck who got a thick edge thanks to an expensive drive to the hands of wicketkeeper Sanju Samson. It was the fourth time Boult had the better of Shaw going for 28 T20 runs in 28 balls. On the very next ball, he got Manish Pandey leg before the wicket (LBW) with a beautiful in-swinging ball.
Coming back for his last over, Boult broke the 64-run stand by breaking the furniture of Lalit Yadav on 38. He finished with 3/29 in four overs to now have 97 IPL wickets in 81 games.
Aggressive Hetmyer pushed the Royals near the 200-run mark
After a great start in the first 10 overs, Rajasthan Royals slowed up a little bit and looked to remain away from the 200-run total. It was then that Shimron Hetmyer arrived in the middle in the 15th over.
Hetmyer thumped Powell over the bowler’s head for a beautiful six before punishing the same bowler for a boundary over long-off. The left-handed batter clubbed Mukhesh Kumar for a six over mid-wicket. In the very last over, Anrich Nortje was drilled for two consecutive sixes over deep mid-wicket by Hetmyer.
Hetmyer who finished on 39 unbeaten runs in 21 balls with the help of one boundary and four sixes, now has 601 IPL runs in 49 matches at a strike rate of 154.41.
Points Table Scenario & What’s Next
Rajasthan Royals go to the number one position with four points at a net run rate of 2.067, while Delhi Capitals are at number 9 with three back-to-back defeats at a net run rate of -2.092.
Gujarat Titans (GT) will now face Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on April 9 at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
IPL 2023 Points Table
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