IPL 14: 2021
7th Match Played at Wankhede Stadium ,Mumbai
Rajasthan Royals (RR) 150/7 in 19.4 Overs (David Miller 62, Chris Morris 36* , Ayesh Khan 3/32, Chris Woakes 2/22 ,Kagiso Rabada 2/32)
Delhi Capital (DC) 147/8 in 20 Overs (Rishab Pant 51, Tom Curran 21, Lalit Yadav 20, Jaydev Unadkat 3/15, Mustafizur Rahman 2/29)
RR Won By 3 Runs
Player of The Match: Jaydev Unadkat
South African recruits David Miller (62 in 43 ) and Chris Morris (36* in 18 ) earned a very hard fought 3 wickets win over Delhi Capital yesterday at Wankhede Stadium ,Mumbai with 2 balls to spare. Batting first on a sluggish wicket good bowling in pairs by Unadkat (3/15) and Mustafiz ( 2/29) restricted DC to 147/8 . The possibility of another small score restricted yet again when RR on reply was also reeling at 7/104 in the 16th over. South African blaster David Miller who set the foundation for RR among ruins just got out scoring 62. From there on Morris and Unadkat took the team across the finishing tape adding unbroken 46 in 3.5 overs .
Over the past few matches lowest scores have been dramatically defended by teams batting first . There was every symptom of that being repeated yesterday as well. South African recruits Miller were the lone warrior among the ruins as they lost 5/42 by the 10th over. Chris Woakes, Avesh Khan and Kagiso Rabda ran riots in RR batting. Situation worsened as Avesh Khan removed Miller also after he scored 62 .RR was in tight leash at 7/104 . Chris Morris was joined by the hero of the day Unadkat. Playing brave cricket they won the match for RR in the 19.4 overs with just 2 balls to spare.
Sanju Sampson put earlier DC into bat after winning the toss. DC batsmen found the going extremely tough as on the sluggish wicket gripping a bit Unadkat (3/15) and Bangladesh recruit Mustafiz (2/29) bowled exceedingly well in tandem. At one stage DC was 4/37 in the 7th over. Prthivi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinka Rahane and Marcus Stoinis were all gone. Pant was batting brilliantly as always. Pant and Lalit Yadav were doing fine. But RR fielders struck a body blow when Pant got run out after scoring 51 at team score of 88. From there on DC innings lost the momentum. They could score 147/ 8. However, their quality pace attack comprising of Avesh Khan (3/32), Chris Woakes ( 2/22) and Kagiso Rabada (2/30) made it a hard grind for RR .
The trend of teams defending small target in bizarre fashion raising doubt about the fairness of the matches was not repeated.
BDST: 1216 HRS, APR 16, 2021
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