Rajasthan Royals had vengeance in their mind when they hosted Delhi Daredevils at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium in Jaipur in the 43rd matchup of the Indian Premier League. They set out on their endeavor right from the word go but faltered mid-way to let Delhi walk with their second victory against them.

The win has allowed DD who were already leading the table consolidate their position at the top of the table and take a three point lead whereas RR after the defeat find themselves lying at the sixth position.

Here are some of the performances that determined the course of match:

Delhi Daredevils

Hits:

Virender Sehwag: Sehwag is on a roll and now has posted five consecutive fifties in the tournament which is now a record as no man in the history of T20 cricket has scored five successive half centuries, be it national or domestic. He again stood up to the occasion yesterday and singlehandedly batted the RR out of the match. He scored 73 in just 38 deliveries which included 12 fours and a six.

Pawan Negi: RR was cruising at 71 in 8.4 overs before Negi dismissed Ajinkya Rahane. After this wicket Royals certainly lost the plot and gave into this spinner. He returned with four for 18 runs and it was his performance that curtailed RR’s innings.

Rajasthan Royals

Hits:

Opening pair of Ajinkya Rahane-Rahul Dravid: They are the most consistent opening pair of IPL V. They got off to a good start and the way they were batting it looked like RR was on the way to a huge target. But once Rahane lost his wicket in the 9th over, Royals just lost their way and succumbed to just 141. Rahane scored 42 off 32 deliveries whereas Dravid scored 57 of 43 balls hitting seven fours.

Flops:

Middle order: RR got off to a flier due to the pair of Rahane and Dravid and once Rahane lost his wicket in the 9th over, they started crumbling under pressure. Even though they lost only six wickets but they could only score 141 in the high scoring Sawai Man Singh pitch.

By Samikshan Dutta Choudhury

Indian Sports News