Rajasthan Royals continued their dominance over Delhi Daredevils in a rain-affected win.
Chasing a revised target of 71 after Royals had made 153/5 in 17.5 overs before the rain, Delhi could only managed 60/4 in reply. It was the Royals’ seventh straight win over Daredevils.
Ben Laughlin starred in the Royals’ defence of their target, taking two wickets and conceding only seven runs in his first over.
Dhawal Kulkarni’s sole over went for just four runs as well, as the Daredevils’ chase never got going. Colin Munro was run out off the first ball of the innings and Glenn Maxwell took too much time to play himself in when the required rate was over 12 an over.
The result meant a triumphant return to the Sawai Mansingh Stadium for Rajasthan following their two-year absence from the IPL.
“Good way to start at home,” Royals captain Ajinkya Rahane, who top-scored with 45 in the first innings, said after the match.
“We thought 71 was difficult to chase. When we were batting, we thought 165 to 170 would be good.”
Sanju Samson was adjudged man of the match for his 22-ball 37, which was propelling Rajasthan to that target score with ease before the match was stopped. Jos Buttler added a quick-fire 29 off of just 18 balls.
Despite the stiff target, Delhi captain Gautam Gambhir said his side had backed itself to chase it down, going by the nature of the wicket.
“It was a beautiful wicket to bat on. One of the flattest wickets,” he said. “I thought if we could contain them to 170, we had a good chance.”
That being said, Gambhir acknowledged the rain-revised score made the chase difficult.
“We had to go from ball one. There are hardly any balls, difficult for our batsmen,” he added.
It was a mixed day for the Royals’ star player Ben Stokes as his cameo of 16 off 12 balls was cut short, while he wasn’t entrusted with the ball at all during the chase.
He did, however, take a crucial catch in the final over.
