Mitchell Marsh (89 and 2/25) put in a brilliant all-round performance to inspire Delhi Capitals (DC) to a comfortable 8-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals (RR) and keep their hopes of making the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 Playoffs alive at the DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai on Wednesday, May 11.
The win leaves DC just outside the playoff spots in fifth position on the
IPL 2022 Points Table with 10 points from 11 games while RR remain in third spot with 14 points.
Ravichandran Ashwin (50 off 38 balls) scored a fighting half-century and together with Devdutt Padikkal (48 off 30 balls) helped RR post a decent total of 160/6 after being invited to bat.
However, Marsh (89 off 62 balls) and David Warner (52 not-out off 41 balls) shared a 144-run partnership to help DC coast to victory and keep their team alive in the race to make the playoffs in what was a do-or-die encounter for Delhi.
It was RR who had the upper hand early in the chase as Trent Boult sent back DC opener Srikar Bharat (0) on a duck in the first over. Prasidh Krishana then bowled a maiden in the 2nd over as DC got off to a slow start.
Marsh could’ve walked back to the dugout when he was still on 1 run in the 3rd over. Boult sent down a lethal inswinging yorker and was the only player to appeal for LBW as Marsh got an inside edge for a single. However, replays later showed the ball brushing the pad first with Marsh trapped plumb but RR hadn’t opted to review.
Marsh would go on to make RR pay dearly for that mistake as he scored DC's first boundary as late as the 4th over with a massive six against Ashwin. The Aussie duo took their time to get used to the conditions as DC only reached 38/1 in the powerplay.
They then started to find the boundaries more frequently with Marsh the more aggressive of the two batters. The All-Rounder raced to his fifty off 38 balls with a massive six against Yuzvendra Chahal.
Together the Aussie's continued to frustrate the RR bowling attack and it was only in the 18th over that Chahal (1/43) got the breakthrough. Marsh hit 5 fours and a staggering 7 sixes during his stay but perished when looking to sweep Chahal as he got a top-edge to short fine leg.
With DC within touching distance of victory, Rishabh Pant (13 off 4 balls) walked out and slammed a couple of handsome sixes against Chahal in the same over.
Warner then brought up his fifth half-century of the season as he scored the winning runs in the next over to hand Rajasthan their fourth defeat of the season.
Earlier at the Toss, Pant opted to bowl as Delhi made two changes with Lalit Yadav coming in for Ripal Patel and Chetan Sakariya replacing the injured Khaleel Ahmed.
Rajasthan were forced into one change as Rassie van der Dussen came in for Shimron Hetmyer who had travelled back to Guyana for the birth of his child.
Sakariya made an instant impact as he got rid of the season’s leading scorer Jos Buttler (7) in the 3rd over. RR then sent out Ashwin at no. 3 to navigate what looked like tricky playing conditions.
Yashasvi Jaiswal (19) was sent packing by Marsh who got him caught out in the 9th over with a sharp bouncer. However, Padikkal walked out and immediately got going with a couple of boundaries against Marsh.
Ashwin meanwhile hit 4 fours and 2 sixes as he brought up his maiden IPL fifty off just 37 balls in the 14th over. However, Marsh returned and got rid of Ashwin (50 off 38 balls) off the first ball in the 15th over to reduce RR to 107/3.
Sanju Samson (6) couldn’t contribute much as Anrich Nortje got him caught out in the 17th over with the RR captain looking to accelerate the innings. Riyan Parag (9) was Sakariya’s second victim as he perished when looking to attack a slower ball only to find long-on.
Nortje (2/39) then picked up his second as he got rid of Padikkal (48) in the penultimate over. Rassie van der Dussen (12 not-out off 10 balls) couldn’t add much to the total as RR managed just 160/6 after 20 overs.
