Rajasthan Royals broke hardly any sweat in their comprehensive 57-run victory over Delhi Capitals at the Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati on Saturday.
Openers Yashasvi Jaiswal (60 off 31 balls) and Jos Buttler (79 off 51 balls) blazed away, while Shimron Hetmyer (39 not out off 21 balls) gave the Royals the kind of finishing they needed to post 199/4 after the Capitals won the toss and opted to bowl first.
Thereafter, Trent Boult’s double strike in the very first over of the Capitals’ reply hit them hard. The Capitals’ mediocrity with the bat made the Royals’ job easier. They somehow limped to 142/9, suffering their third straight defeat on the trot in this IPL.
Man of the Match Yashasvi Jaiswal of Rajasthan Royals en route to his 31-ball 60 against Delhi Capitals at the ACA Stadium in Barsapara, Guwahati, on Saturday. PTI picture
For the Royals, what bodes well is their optimum use of the Powerplay overs. With the bat, young left-hander Jaiswal, who’s amongst runs since the past few months, and Buttler are finding the gaps and unleashing big strokes effortlessly. Then, Boult’s ability to move the new ball is making his opening spell a determining factor in the game.
On Saturday, the New Zealand left-arm quick extracted fantastic movement as he first got rid of Delhi’s Impact Player Prithvi Shaw (replacing pacer Khaleel Ahmed) and then accounted for Manish Pandey, who was trapped lbw first ball.
Following Boult’s early inroads, the only period when the Capitals looked to be in the game was during the fourth-wicket partnership between captain David Warner and Lalit Yadav. But just as Delhi batsman Yadav was beginning to look solid, Boult, back in the attack, castled him.
With the quick dismissals of Axar Patel and Rovman Powell thereafter, it was more or less curtains for the Capitals. That, in spite of Warner’s presence in the middle.
Openers struggle
Ricky Ponting, Capitals’ head coach, and director of cricket Sourav Ganguly definitely need to have some hard talk with the struggling Prithvi Shaw. But they should also speak to Warner, who is getting runs, but not at the desired strike rate.
With two 50-plus scores and a total of 158 runs, Warner is the second highest run-getter so far in the competition. But his strike rate is 117.03, which has gone on to hurt the Capitals. In this game too, when his team needed something special from him, Warner got those 65 runs at a strike rate of 118.18 and that too on an excellent batting wicket.
Right through the Capitals’ innings, there wasn’t a single six. The Royals’ batsmen hit seven. That kind of sums up the whole story.
Bengal pacer Mukesh Kumar, who claimed 2/36, was perhaps the only positive for the Capitals from a nightmarish match.
