Guwahati: Delhi Capitals' 'Summer of Horrors' continued as they crashed to a 57-run loss against Rajasthan Royals, completing a hat-trick of one-sided defeats in this edition of Indian Premier League, here on Saturday. While Yashasvi Jaiswal reaffirmed his status as the brightest talent among India's gen-next batters with a superb 60, Jos Buttler showed no signs of finger pain en route a chiselled 79 in Rajasthan Royals' challenging 199 for 4 after David Warner committed a tactical 'harakiri' by opting to field on a batting shirtfront.
The Australian couldn't be blamed as his pencil-thin Indian batting unit was put on its haunches as they managed only 142 for 9 in the end after being out-batted by the two Royals openers with Shimron Hetmyer adding a bit of icing on the cake. In the Royals' innings, there were 23 boundaries and seven sixes while DC in their entire innings failed to hit a single six on what was considered to be batting paradise.
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First win of the season at home 🙌🏻@rajasthanroyals register a comprehensive 57-run victory in Guwahati 👏🏻👏🏻
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 8, 2023 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/FLjLINwRJC#TATAIPL | #RRvDC pic.twitter.com/BBxb8g94TF
">First win of the season at home 🙌🏻@rajasthanroyals register a comprehensive 57-run victory in Guwahati 👏🏻👏🏻
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 8, 2023
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/FLjLINwRJC#TATAIPL | #RRvDC pic.twitter.com/BBxb8g94TFFirst win of the season at home 🙌🏻@rajasthanroyals register a comprehensive 57-run victory in Guwahati 👏🏻👏🏻
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 8, 2023
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/FLjLINwRJC#TATAIPL | #RRvDC pic.twitter.com/BBxb8g94TF
The Royals thus earned their second win in three games, having lost a high scoring thriller against Punjab Kings at this very venue. Trent Boult (3/29 in 4 overs) then did what he does for a living. He got one to move a shade, squaring up Prithvi Shaw (0) and exposing his poor technique once again. The very next ball jagged back enough and found Manish Pandey (0) rooted to his crease for a plumb leg before decision. There was not much left in the game after that kind of horrendous start.
In three games, Shaw has been dismissed in three distinct fashions -- raw pace in the opener, well-disguised short ball rearing up in the second and old fashioned seam and swing in the third. He would himself know that he has now fallen way behind in national team's pecking order after this inept performances game after game.
Skipper David Warner (65 off 55 balls) scored his second half-century in three games but has been very 'Un-Warner' like where he has never looked like taking the game away from opposition. Once Lalit Yadav (38 off 24 balls) was dismissed by Boult, in his second spell, the humiliation was written all over Barsapara Stadium.
Earlier, it was a case of 'Afternoon showing fate of evening' as Jaiswal hammered a hapless Khaleel Ahmed (0/31 in 2 overs) into submission by crunching five boundaries in the opening over. His 31-ball innings laid the foundation before Buttler finished with a flourish. The English swashbuckler faced 51 balls. The fate of DC bowlers could have been sealed in the first six overs, which yielded 68 runs along with 14 boundaries, but Kuldeep Yadav (1/31 in 4 overs), Mukesh Kumar (2/36 in 4 overs) and Rovman Powell (1/18 in 2 overs) did well to control the damage to some extent at the back-end.
The total on this track would be considered a par score taking the pitch into account as 220 looked possible during the first 10 overs. Khaleel literally lost both line and length and looked bruised as Jaiswal inflicted one humiliation after another on him during those couple of overs. Khaleel, in his career, has never had three consistent games on trot and Saturday was another such day.
Anrich Nortje (0/44 in 4 overs), DC's big bowling hope, seemed to have had too much on his plate, as the onslaught at the other end did affect him as he also went for a flurry of boundaries, including one over the bowler's head. Such was Warner's helplessness that he had to ignore that Axar Patel's (0/38 in 4 overs) match-up against left-handers isn't great, and he was promptly smashed for three boundaries in his very first over.
The 50 came in the fourth over and 100 in the 10th even as Jaiswal completed a 25-ball half-century, his fifth over three editions of the tournament. Seeing Axar's plight, his spin twin Kuldeep also started bowling quick and flat which resulted in half-trackers, which were promptly punished.
It was Mukesh Kumar, who finally induced a mis-timed pull from Jaiswal which ballooned up and resulted in an easy return catch. The confidence of Mukesh rubbed off on Kuldeep, who in his second over started giving the ball more air and floated one out of Sanju Samson's (0) hitting radar. Samson's ugly heave was taken by Nortje at long on.
Riyan Parag (7) had another failure, this time castled by Powell but Buttler, after a quiet period in the middle overs, conjured a 49-run stand with Shimton Hetmyer (39 not out off 21 balls) to take his team to a par score. (PTI)
Brief Scores:
Rajasthan Royals: 199 for 4 in 20 overs (Yashasvi Jaiswal 60, Jos Buttler 79, Shimron Hetymer 39 not out; Mukesh Kumar 2/36).
Delhi Capitals: 142 for 9 in 20 overs (David Warner 65, Trent Boult 3/29).
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- Delhi Capitals were stifled with initial breakthroughs in Prithvi Shaw (0) and Manish Pandey (0) -- both of them being dismissed by some emphatic swing bowling by Trent Boult. Rilee Rossouw, who tried to chip in was removed by R Ashwin even as Lalit Yadav and David Warner are trying to get back into the game as they chase the Rajasthan's score that looks farther and farther with increasing run-rate and falling wickets.
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Buttler, Jaiswal power Rajasthan Royals to 199-4 against DC
Guwahati: Rajasthan Royals scored 199 for four against Delhi Capitals in their Indian Premier League match here on Saturday. Opening the innings after Delhi Capitals skipper David Warner opted to bowl first, young Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler gave RR a blazing start by putting on 98 runs for the first wicket in just 8.3 overs.
While Jaiswal slammed 60 off 31 balls, the seasoned Buttler struck 79 in 51 deliveries. Later, Shimron Hetmyer blasted a 21-ball 39 not out. For DC, Mukesh Kumar was the most successful bowler with two wickets for 36 runs.
Brief scores:
Rajasthan Royals: 199/4 in 20 overs (Yashasvi Jaiswal 60, Jos Buttler 79, Shimron Hetymer 39 not out; Mukesh Kumar 2/36).
IPL Scoreboard: RR vs DC
Rajasthan Royals:
Yashasvi Jaiswal c & b Mukesh Kumar 60
Jos Buttler c & b Mukesh Kumar 79
Sanju Samson c Nortje b Kuldeep Yadav 0
Riyan Parag b Powell 7
Shimron Hetmyer not out 39
Dhruv Jurel not out 8
Extras: (LB-1 NB-1 W-4) 6
Total: (For 4 wickets in 20 overs) 199
Fall of wickets: 1/98 2/103 3/126 4/175
Bowling: Khaleel Ahmed 2-0-31-0, Anrich Nortje 4-0-44-0, Mukesh Kumar 4-0-36-2, Axar Patel 4-0-38-0, Kuldeep Yadav 4-0-31-1, Rovman Powell 2-0-18-1.
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- Jos Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal have got Rajasthan Royals off to a flying start, hitting boundaries consistently as the Rajasthan team now eyes a massive score. It would be up to the middle order to carry on from the platform provided by the openers.
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Guwahati: Delhi Capitals captain David Warner won the toss and opted to bowl in their Indian Premier League match against Rajasthan Royals here on Saturday. Australian Warner said compatriot Mitchell Marsh will miss the match as he has gone back home for his marriage. Rovman Powell comes in his place.
Manish Pandey and Lalit Yadav were also named in the DC team in place of Sarfaraz Khan and Aman Khan respectively. RR captain Sanju Samson said Englishman Jos Buttler has recovered from his finger injury and will play the match.
The Teams:
Delhi Capitals: David Warner (c), Manish Pandey, Rilee Rossouw, Rovman Powell, Lalit Yadav, Axar Patel, Abishek Porel (w), Anrich Nortje, Khaleel Ahmed, Kuldeep Yadav, Mukesh Kumar.
Rajasthan Royals: Sanju Samson (w/c), Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Riyan Parag, Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jason Holder, Trent Boult, Sandeep Sharma, Yuzvendra Chahal.
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PREVIEW:
Guwahati: Haunted and pummeled by raw pace, Delhi Capitals (DC) may find a letup and look to have a taste of success when they face Rajasthan Royals here in the afternoon match on Saturday. Genuine fast bowlers in Mark Wood and Alzarri Joseph threw thunderbolts at Delhi's openers Prithvi Shaw and Sarfaraz Khan to dismiss them.
Although, the duo will not have to deal with a similar threat when they face RR's pace trio comprising Trent Boult, KM Asif and Jason Holder, who bowl mostly in the range of 130s. Both are one of India's most talented batters but have exposed their technical glitch while facing fast bowlers that bowl in excess of 140s. However, they will still have to deal with the intelligent R Ashwin and threatening Yuzvendra Chahal, who pose a considerable challenge against anyone in the world.
Despite going through a patchy form, both will take comfort in the fact that Barsapa Stadium aids batting once you take your front foot out and hit through the line. The absence of Jos Buttler would be a boon to the DC squad as the English player has got stitches on his little finger making his place in the side uncertain in the match.
The likelihood of his absence is palpable as the stitches may still be fresh which will not allow him to field but he can still add extra cushioning in his gloves and bat. However, it remains to be seen about his availability in the match. RR may include Joe Root in their side, who still can play the dual role of an attacker and can provide stability while chasing big scores.
DC looks like a line-up to envy despite Rishabh Pant's absence from the side. But Shaw and Sarfarz's weakness against international fast bowlers, who eject the ball at least 10 miles faster than their Indian counterparts have forced the management into thinking about alternatives.
What is worrisome in Delhi's squad is the lack of availability of Indian bowling options as the young Indian players in the team are not of the quality that is required in an IPL tournament. The bench strength that DC comprise are Yash Dhull, Ripal Patel, and Lalit Yadav, who are seasoned batters but will not be able to accelerate at a strike rate of 150.
It is not a tall order in Guwahati to chase a score which is less than 190 but the bowlers will find respite in the fact that the dew factor will not come into play, unlike the last match where Punjab Kings' team were finding it tough to grip the ball.
Rajasthan Royals batting line-up are in imperious touch with Yashasvi Jaiswal and captain Sanju Samson providing the team the solidity that it needs and are unlikely to budge against the likes of Anrich Nortje, Khaleel Ahmed and Kuldeep Yadav.
It would be interesting to see what DC planning would be on how to use 'Impact Player' and Axar Patel in the face of two left-handed batters in the top order of RR. The Delhi team has used Aman Hakim as their impact player but despite coach Ricky Ponting's confidence in him, he hasn't been able to put in any noticeable performance yet.
David Warner would also think twice before handing over the ball to Axar Patel who has had not a good time against the south-paws in previous encounters. Rovman Powell is a massive hitter of the ball but his issues with spin might make way for Rossouw to continue. Rajasthan Royals did lose the last match but they are still firm favourites to win this one.
