IPL SRL | DC vs RR Evaluation Chart | Shreyas Iyer's Delhi delivers Royal punishment to Rajasthan

ByAakash Sivasubramaniam, SportsCafe Editor

04/19/2020

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Led by the skipper Shreyas Iyer, Delhi notched up an impressive display out of the blue to knock Rajasthan out of the park at home, winning by a margin of 57 runs. While it was Iyer-Pant partnership which propelled them to 181/8, it was the spinners who set up a sweet victory for the hosts.

Match Review

Surprisingly, Rajasthan won the toss and decided the Delhi batsmen to have a go at them early on. And, the away side got off the best of starts - dismissing both the openers early on in the innings. Both Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw fell in the span of two deliveries to leave Delhi hanging at 32/2 at the end of four overs. However, Iyer and Pant stitched a 66-run partnership in the middle-overs before a late collapse had them settle on 181 at the end of the first innings. Iyer ended up scoring 56, while Pant scored a 27-ball 35 for the Capitals.

On the other hand, Rajasthan got off to a wrong start, with Buttler walking back early in the innings, with the total reading 16 in 1.2 overs. Despite the brilliance from Robin Uthappa and Sanju Samson, Rajasthan never got going in the middle overs of the innings, leaving too much too late, in the end, to chase for the Royals. While Uthappa scored a 22-ball 31, Samson scored a 26-ball 43 run to get them going after the early shock. Delhi’s spinners in the middle-overs put the brakes on the innings, leaving them well short of the required total.

Turning Point

Robin Uthappa’s dismissal was arguably the turning point in the encounter, with Rajasthan well-ahead in the game at 73-1 in 7.3 overs. The away side were running away with the game, scoring at nearly 10 runs an over, chasing 182. Until then, Uthappa had scored 31, in 22 balls and looked in sublime form. However, a timely breakthrough from Ravichandran Ashwin ensured that Rajasthan faced another batting collapse.

Highs and Lows

Sandeep Lamichhane’s bowling spell was another planet, pure magic. After Uthappa’s dismissal, the game was for Delhi to capitalise on Rajasthan’s weak middle order. Despite it boasting the likes of Steve Smith and Ben Stokes, earlier in the tournament, we have seen them go down under the pressure. This time too, it was nothing different, with the Nepali spinner running through the middle-order. First, he got Smith stumped before picking up the crucial wicket of Sanju Samson. Rightly so, he finished the game, picking up the wicket of Ankit Rajpoot.

Skipper Smith’s lean form definitely is a worry for the franchise, with the top-order getting them off to a great start. While the Englishman Buttler’s form, too has been a worry, nothing bigger than their skippers. Two consecutive failures and the pressure is right on the Australian to turn his fortune around in the next game. In this fixture, he scored just one run in four deliveries and got stumped to the Nepali spinner Lamichhane. Surely, the Australian has to do better things for the team trusts him in the middle-order.

Rating Charts

Powerplay exploitation: Delhi 5/10 and Rajasthan 7/10

Batting first, it was the worst possible start for Delhi at home, losing both their openers in the third over of the innings and the powerplay. While until then, they could only score 32 runs, making it a slow start for the home side. By the end of the powerplay, the onus was on preserving the wickets and not dabbling with the acceleration of runs. That meant that they could only score 44 runs for the loss of two wickets in the powerplay.

For once, Rajasthan got off to a flyer in the SRL. After failing against Mumbai, this time, Buttler got out early in a similar fashion. After that, it was a purely magical effort from the Indian pair -Robin Uthappa and Sanju Samson. The duo just scored runs for fun in the powerplay, smacking the Delhi bowlers all over the park. So much so, that at one point it looked like they were running away with the game. After six overs, they scored 64 runs for the loss of just one wicket.

Middle-overs manoeuvring: Delhi 8/10 and Rajasthan 5/10

Arguably the best period, also, incidentally the match-changing period of the innings for the Delhi side. In the middle overs, they capitalised heavily on the gaps, scoring runs in a free-flowing manner, as was expected from them in the powerplays. The duo of Iyer-Pant, in the middle overs, ran a show, putting up a 66-run partnership. Just before the death overs, they scored 122 runs for the loss of just three wickets, with room for the rest of the team to score well in the death overs.

Contrastingly, Rajasthan made a mess out of the great start from Uthappa and Samson. After Buttler got out early in the game, both Uthappa and Samson scored runs at a brisk pace, controlling the momentum needed for the game. However, since Samson’s dismissal, everything turned haywards, with three quick wickets. The trio of Smith-Stokes-Parag crashed in the middle overs, combing for just four runs in the game. Since then, the game was outside the reach of the away side.

Death bowling: Delhi 6/10 and Rajasthan 4/10

The less that is said about Rajasthan’s death over bowling, the better. From 122/4 in 15 overs, the home side reached a match-winning total, all thanks to their death over scoring. And for Rajasthan, thanks to their horrible bowling. From 122/4, the Royals’ bowlers leaked runs at a water-rate as Delhi ended up on 181/8 in 20 overs. The bowlers allowed 59 runs in a rather failed death-bowling from the tourists.

Another incident of death overs being non-existent in a game - with only four balls post the 15th over in the innings for Rajasthan Royals. The encounter was over as early as the death overs started, ensuring that Rajasthan did not cross the line yet again in an SRL encounter.

Match Frenzy O Meter - Average

Well, the match was entirely brilliant to watch from Delhi’s perspective with them stepping up and putting their ‘A’ game. For the away side, it was a terrible game, with their batsmen failing and their bowlers just matching their batsmen’s standards in the tournament. Overall, the game was better than bad and less than a good encounter between the bat and the ball.