Orange cap holder Jos Buttler pulled further away at the top of the run-scoring charts in the IPL with a magnificent hundred as he powered Rajasthan Royals to a runs victory over Delhi Capitals. Buttler scored 116 off 65 balls including 9 fours and 9 towering sixes as he drove Rajasthan to a mammoth 222 for 2 in their 20 overs. In response, despite a spirited chase, Delhi fell just short ending up with 207 for 8 in their 20 overs to lose by 15 runs.
Bad luck with the toss, good luck in games for Rajasthan
Rajasthan captain Sanju Samson lost the toss for the 6th time in 7 games during this IPL, but the bad luck with the toss doesn’t seem to be stopping the Royals. Put into bat by Delhi captain Rishabh Pant, Rajasthan got off to an excellent start through Buttler and Devdutt Padikkal. Padikkal was eventually dismissed for 54 after an opening partnership of 155 in just over 15 overs. Jos Buttler wasn’t slowing down though as he completed his 3rd century of the tournament in just the 7th game.
A blistering 19 balls 46 from skipper Sanju Samson provided further impetus as Rajasthan ended up with 222 for the loss of just 2 wickets in their 20 overs. For Delhi, all the bowlers ended up being very expensive with Shardul Thakur conceding 9.7 runs per over being their most economical bowler.
Delhi Capitals’ chase
Delhi Capitals started their chase aggressively with Australian stalwart David Warner taking the attack to the Rajasthan opening bowlers. Even when he fell in the 5th over after scoring 28 off 14 balls followed quickly by Sarfaraz Khan, Delhi showed no signs of slowing down thanks to Prithvi Shaw and skipper Pant. However, once Shaw went, followed by Pant 10 balls later, Delhi was always up against it.
Even with the odds mounting against them, the impressive Lalit Yadav kept Delhi in the hunt till the end in the company of the Caribbean big hitter Rovman Powell who was mysteriously sent at number 8 behind bowling all-rounders Axar Patel and Shardul Thakur. However, once out there, Powell showed what he can do smashing 5 sixes, including 3 off successive balls in the final over from fellow Caribbean Obed McCoy.
Eventually though, the target turned out to be beyond even his reach as he got out of the last ball with Delhi 15 runs short of their target. Prasidh Krishna was the star of the show with the ball for Rajasthan conceding just 22 runs from his 4 overs in a very high-scoring match and taking the prized wickets of Warner, Pant, and a dangerous-looking Lalit Yadav.
The win pushes Rajasthan to the top of the table, while Delhi stays at number 6 in the table. Rajasthan next faces high-flying Royal Challengers Bangalore on Tuesday, while Delhi will lock horns with Kolkata Knight Riders on Thursday.
