Rajasthan Royals (RR) registered their maiden victory in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021. They defeated Delhi Capitals (DC) by three wickets at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, on Thursday, 15 April. Chasing 148, Rajasthan were 42/5 at one point. David Miller (62 in 43 balls) played an instrumental role in setting up the chase, while his compatriot Chris Morris (36 not out in 18) took RR over the line.
Earlier, Jaydev Unadkat (4-0-15-3) restricted DC to a mediocre total of 147/8. Rishabh Pant (51 off 32) scored a quickfire half-century, but found little support from his teammates. Delhi lost both Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw in the space of just eight balls early in the innings. While Shaw was duped by a change in the pace, Dhawan miscued a premeditated scoop that Sanju Samson flew to his right to pouch behind the stumps.
Unadkat accounted for both wickets, with consecutive balls. He nearly got his hat-trick after a ball moved away from good length area to miss Pant’s bat by a whisker. Pant then whipped the very next ball to the boundary ropes.
Unadkat struck again in his third over. Ajinkya Rahane stepped down the track but was taken aback by a slower delivery. Unable to make up his mind, whether to play or defend, he handed an easy catch back to the bowler.
But Pant did not let such mishaps affect his game. He kept playing his shots, piercing the gaps, and finding boundaries at a regular interval. He thrashed Rahul Tewatia for three successive fours, and added one more on the last ball to complete 20 runs from the over.
He completed his first half-century as a skipper after ramming up a short, wide ball for four. Chris Woakes (15 in 11 balls) and Tom Curran (21 in 16) chipped in with a handy contribution to propel Delhi Capitals to 147-8.
Avesh Khan and Woakes kept things tight in the first couple of overs, together conceding just 5 runs before Manan Vohra took on Woakes in his second over, hitting consecutive boundaries. He went for a repeat of the second boundary, but could only hit to Kagiso Rabada at long-on. Pant then dived to his left to grab an inside edge from Jos Buttler to reduce RR to 13/2 in three overs.
Samson’s departure in the next over almost took the sting out of this run-chase. While Miller held the fort at one end, wickets kept falling from the other. With 58 needed in the last five overs, Miller smoked back-to-back sixes off Avesh. He tried to make it in three in a row but failed to whip it with enough power. Lalit Yadav made no mistake in the deep.
Woakes came in to bowl the seventeenth over. Unadkat hammered a short-pitched ball in the sky. The ball sailed over the rope, unfettered. On the other end was Morris, who tried hard but was unable to connect with enough precision to change the outcome of the came.
He scored seven runs off his first eight balls. Samson’s decision to deny him a single against the Punjab Kings was reaffirming its credential as good judgement in hindsight.
Then Morris welcomed Rabada with a six in the 19th over. Rabada adjusted his line and bowled two consecutive dot balls, then conceded two runs. But Morris swung his bat again, for a massive six over long-on. He then retained the strike.
Rajasthan needed 12 in the last over, bowled by Curran. Morris smashed two more sixes in the last over of the match to guide his team across the finishing line.
Brief scores
Delhi Capitals 147/8 in 20 overs (Rishabh Pant 51; Jaydev Unadkat 3-15) lost to Rajasthan Royals 150/7 in 19.4 overs (David Miller 62; Avesh Khan 3-32) by 3 wickets with 2 balls to spare. Player of the Match: Jaydev Unadkat.