IPL 2021: DC vs RR Review – Delhi thump Rajasthan on a sluggish track

Delhi Capitals finally sealed their position in the top four of the IPL 2021 with a win against Rajasthan Royals. The Delhi side displayed some really good performances and they were the better team. Having set a target of 155 runs to chase, Delhi won the match by a margin of 33 runs. This was their eighth win and seals their playoff spot.

Rajasthan Royals won the toss and elected to bowl first. Delhi were pushed back early on as Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw both went early. Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer got together for a good partnership which stabilised the situation. Pant was eventually dismissed for 24, while Iyer went on to make 43. Shimron Hetmyer also played a cameo of 28 runs from 16 balls. Cameos from Axar Patel and Lalit Yadav saw them get to 154 for 6.

For the Royals, six wickets were shared between Chetan Sakariya and Mustafizur Rahman who got two wickets each while Kartik Tyagi and Rahul Tewatia got a scalp each. The Royals weren’t really getting their chase started. No one other than captain Sanju Samson got a good score. After his knock of 70, the second-highest score was 19 by Mahipal Lomror. No other batter crossed the double-figure mark.

All the bowlers came to the party for Delhi. Ravi Ashwin and Axar Patel bowled economically, picking up a scalp each. Kagiso Rabada and Avesh Khan also picked up one wicket each while Anrich Nortje took two scalps. Rajasthan finished 121 for 6.

Top performers:

Shreyas Iyer:

With Dhawan and Shaw dismissed early, Delhi needed to tackle the threat of a collapse and also manage to score runs quickly. He ended with a score of 43 runs from 32 balls. He played spin well and made sure that the momentum wasn’t lost.

Anrich Nortje:

The South African pacer has been in some terrific form with the ball. He has bowled the several fastest balls of the tournament and continued his good form. He picked up two wickets and gave only 27 runs from four overs.

Personal Achievements/records:

• Ravichandran Ashwin completed 250 T20 wickets.
• Rishabh Pant completed 50 catches in IPL.

Way Ahead:

Delhi will now meet Kolkata Knight Riders on September 28. Rajasthan’s next match is versus Sunrisers Hyderabad on September 27.