| Scores | Upcoming | Results |
New Delhi: One again Delhi Daredevils lost last ball thriller game in a row at Feroz Shah Kotla on Sunday.
Delhi Daredevils certainly don’t seem to have imbibe that habit. Despite posting a challenging 184 runs on the board, they couldn’t prevent their opponents Rajasthan Royals from scoring the one run more that gave them two points from the match.
Ajinkya Rahane held his end firm for most part of the innings even as batsmen at the other end walked in, chipped in a few runs and perished. Sanju Samson made 11, captain Steve Smith made 10 and Karun Nair made a breezy 20.
Reduced to 78 for 4 in the 11th over, RR needed 107 from 56 balls, at which point Rahane and Deepak Hooda turned on the heat. Hooda in particular was ruthless; he hit Angelo Mathews for a six and two fours in the 13th over, deposited Unadkat into the stands twice in the 15th over and Imran Tahir into the stands at long on in the 16th over.
Theyt added 52 runs in 4.3 overs to put their team in the driver’s seat. Rahane creamed three crisp sixes and two boundaries in his 39-ball outing before he perished at the start of the 16th over. The teenager carried on and brought up his half-century off 22 balls.
Chris Morris struck a four and a six, and Tim Southee drove Angelo Mathews through extra cover for a boundary to take their team past the finish line.
Imran Tahir impressed yet again; he used the leg-breaks and googlies deceptively, presented few scoring opportunities to the RR batsmen and returned with figures of four for 28. Amit Mishra (2-32) and Mathews (1-42) were the other wicket-takers.
Earlier, put in to bat, the Delhi Daredevils gave their supporters plenty to cheer as their openers Mayank Agarwal and Shreyas Iyer wasted little time in their team off to a brisk start. Agarwal especially was the more aggressive of the two batsmen.
JP Duminy promoted himself to number three and batted through to the end of the innings. It was an indifferent innings from the DD captain; up until the final over of the innings – when he struck two sixes – his strike-rate was 88.24. He made 44 from 38 balls and was involved in useful partnerships with Yuvraj Singh (27, off 17-balls) and Angelo Mathews not out on 27 off 14.
Brief scores
Delhi Daredevils - 184/3 (Duminy 44*, Iyer 40, Agarwal 37)
Rajasthan Royals - 186/7 (Hooda 54, Rahane 47, Tahir 4-28)
Result - Rajasthan Royals won by 3 wickets
Points - Rajasthan Royals 2, Delhi Daredevils 0
