Delhi Capitals as good as qualified for the Playoffs of IPL 2021 with their eighth win in 10 matches they played. With 16 points, they are now at the top of the IPL table. Rajasthan Royals continued to have problems with batting; the defeat pushed them to sixth position, below Mumbai Indians due to their poorer net run rate.
Rajasthan captain Sanju Samson won the toss and decided to bowl first. They had to replace Evin Lewis and Chris Morris, both of whom had niggles, with David Miller and Tabraiz Shamsi. Delhi Capitals replaced the injured Marcus Stoinis with Lalit Yadav and played with just three overseas players.
The young Indian pace duo of Chetan Sakariya and Kartik Tyagi provided early dismissed the dangerous Delhi openers Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw early in the Powerplay. The pitch was slightly two-paced, and run-scoring was not easy. However, Shreyas Iyer (43 in 32 balls) continued his good form and added 62 with Rishabh Pant (24). Mustafizur Rahman eventually broke the partnership, getting Pant for 24.
At 90/4, the Royals had the upper hand but some handy cameos from Shimron Hetmyer (28), Lalit Yadav (14*), and Axar Patel (12) took Delhi to 154/6.
Rajasthan pushed Liam Livingstone to open in place of Lewis, but both their openers inside seven balls, to Avesh Khan and Anrich Nortje. From there on it was an uphill battle for the Royals, who soon lost Miller, stumped in R. Ashwin’s first over.
Samson batted till the end for an unbeaten 53-ball 70, but found almost no support at the other end. Rajasthan lost the match by 33 runs as all Delhi bowlers chipped in with key contributions.
Brief scores: Delhi Capitals 154/6 in 20 overs (Iyer 43; Mustafizur 2-22) beat Rajasthan Royals 121/6 in 20 overs (Samson 70*; Nortje 2-18) by 33 runs. Player of the Match: Shreyas Iyer.