IPL 2018: RR bowlers hold nerves, defeat Delhi by 10 runs in rain-hit match

RR made 153-5 in 17.5 overs before rain came in

In a ran hit match, Rajasthan Royals beat Delhi Daredevils by 10 runs under the D-L method. The revised target for Delhi was 71 from 36 balls. But Delhi batsmen could not clear the fence as they would have liked. Ben Lughlin was the pick of the bowler as he bowled clinical spells and took wickets. 

Put into bat first, Rajasthan Royals made 153-5 in 17.5 overs when rain struck. The shower was heavy and it consumed a lot of time for the ground staff to clear the puddles. The revised target for Delhi Daredevils is 71 from 6 overs. Here are the revised playing conditions:

Target 71, Powerplay of 2 overs and every bowler can bowl a maximum of 2 overs. 
 

Delhi Daredevils innings: Over by over

Over1: Maxwell and Colin Munro came in. Krishnappa Gowtham started off with the ball. And a first ball run out. Horrible mixup, brilliant throw, and Munro is gone. Rishab Pant comes in. Four. Cracking straight drive. Four down the fine leg. Pant is on fire. End of the over: DD 10-1

Over 2: Dhawal Kulkarni is into the attack. Slower one onto the pads of Pant, one run. Maxwell moves across and Kulkarni bowls right on his legs, one run. Clever bowling. Very wide, extra run, extra ball. Smashed by Pant, but straight to the man at mid-off, no run. Slower one once again, Just a single. Maxwell moves wide off the off stump, tries to pull behind the wicket, misses, no extra run. Just the single of last ball. End of over: DD 15-1. Just 5 conceded.

Over 3: Jaydev Unadkat in the attack and bowls a dot.Swing and a miss. One more dot ball. Good going for Rajasthan. And here is another dot. Unadkat is bowling his heart out. Maxwell barely connects, but get 4. Moves across and Maxwell wacks it out of the park. Six runs. Swings again, four. Made up for the three dot balls. DD: 29-1.

Over 4: Ben Laughlin into the attack. Keeps it tight. Maxwell edges and he is gone. Chris Morris joins Pant. Another dot. Two runs. End of over: DD 36-2

Over 5: Unadkat is back. Pant hits high in the air, fall in no man's land. One run. Morris hits four towards the third man. One run. Dot ball. High in the air. Pant is out. Great catch. 

Over 6: One run. Laughlin is amazing with the variation. Single again. Two runs. hit well. Three balls remain. In the air, taken. Vijay Shankar falls trying to win the lost match. Four. Good shot. Four again. Rajasthan win by 10 runs.

Delhi Daredevils innings wrap

After the rain break of more than 2 hours, the playing condition was revised. Delhi Daredevils now needed 71 runs off 6 overs. Colin Munro and Glen Maxwell came to open the innings for Delhi Daredevils, but Munro got run out while trying to steal a cheeky single off the very first ball of the innings. He returned to the dug-out without even facing a ball. Rishabh Pant came to bat at number 3 and scored 9 with the help of 2 fours off Krishnappa Gowtham's first over.

Dhawal Kulkarni came in to bowl the second over and bowled some good slower ones to restrict Pant and Maxwell from scoring big.

Jayadev Unadkat, who is the highest paid Indian in IPL 2018 auction, started his over with three dot balls as he didn’t allow Maxwell to score but failed to do so in the subsequent deliveries as he hit 2nd ball for 4 over short third man and 3rd ball to a huge six over. Glen Maxwell managed to score 14 runs in the 3rd over of the innings.

Rahane asked Laughlin to bowl the fourth of the innings and he managed to get the top edge of the Rishabh Pant bat but Rahul Tripathi dropped the skier. Is this the turning point that will change the course of the game? No, as Laughlin get rid of dangerous Glen Maxwell of the fifth ball of 4th over. Glen Maxwell scored 17 runs off 12 balls with a strike rate of 141.66.

Rajasthan Royals bowlers are bowling smartly, using slower balls efficiently to restrict Daredevils to chase the target. In the penultimate over of the game, Jayadev Unadkat gave away 10 runs as Rishabh Pant is trying all sort of shots to get some big runs but got perished while heaving Unadkat over the square leg. Pant scored 20 runs off 14 balls with a strike rate of 142.85.

Delhi Daredevils needed 25 runs from last over and its Laughlin bowling the final over. Laughlins first ball hit Morris helmet and they take one run as leg-by. Laughlin gave 14 runs and took 1 wicket as Rajasthan defeated Delhi Daredevils by 10 runs by Duckworth Lewis Method

Rajasthan Royals innings: Over by over updates:

Over 1: Trent Boult opens the bowling attack for Delhi. Hint of movement from the pitch. Ajinkya Rahane and Dacy Shorts open for Rajasthan. Flicked to square leg by Rahane, two runs. Decent line by Boult. Rahane flicks one off the pads, picks up three. Shorts takes a single. End of the over. RR 6-0
 
Over 2: Shahbaaz Nadeem into the attack. Four, first ball and it is a loose one. Shorts hits it for a four. Oh, what a mess they've made. Some confusion in calling and a direct hit to the keeper end. That is the end of Shorts. Two run outs for Shorts in two games. Rahane was looking for two, Shorts was not in the mood, hence the dismissal. Ben Stokes join Rahane. Three singles to Rahane in the over. End of over: RR14-1
 
Over 3: Boult continues. Almost had Stokes! No movement of feet at all, trying to play from the crease, beaten by the line. That's a cracking cover drive by Stokes for four. Good comeback. Another single. Short ball, right over the head. End of the over: RR 19-1

Over 4: Chris Morris introduced by Gautam Gambhir. Nice deliveries. Only a couple of singles. Short of length ball, dispatched into the stands by Stokes. First six of the night. He picked up the length very quickly. Easy single for Stokes. Rahane swings and misses. End of over: 28-1
 
Over 5: Boult comes in for his third over. What an angular delivery, edged and pouched behind the wickets. Ben Stokes departs for 16. Stokes did not move his feet and paid the price. Sanju Samson joins Rahane. Confident shot from in-form Sanju Samson, gone for four. He has picked up his innings from where he left in the previous match. Here's another one from Sanju, cracking shot, in front of the square for six! And now an intelligent single. What confidence. Pulled and just short of the fielder. Four by Rahane. End of over: 43-2
 
Over 6: Morris back into the attack. Sanju flicks for 3. A great fielding effort by Nadeem. Single to Rahane. Risky single by Sanju, challenging the man on mid-off. Easy single. Good on part of RR to rotate the strike. Another single behind the wicket by Sanju. Eight runs from the final powerplay over. End of powerplay: RR 51-2 scoring at 8.5 runs per over.

Over 7: Mohd Shami into the attack. Short ball, very loose, pulled away for four by Rahane. Not a great start for Shami. Single taken. Sanju pushed for a single. Inside edge onto the pads of Rahane. Didn't read the line correctly. Flicked for single. End of over: 58-2
 
Over 8: Leg-spinner Rahul Tewatia into the attack. Single for Rahane, scoring run-a-ball 20. Dot ball.Good fielding. Single taken. Dot ball. Single on final ball. Very decent and tight over by Rahul. Only four runs give. End of over: RR 62-2.
 
Over 9: Nadeem back into the attack. Sanju pulls the short one and way back into the stand for six. That's a good start. Late cut, uses the pace of the ball and four. High on confidence. Single for Sanju. Rahane takes single and rotates strike, very intelligent. Sanju takes two. 15 runs come from the over. Strategic time out. End of the over: RR 77-2

Over 10: Tewatia back into the attack. Single to Sanju. Rahane blocks. Good ball from Rahul. Short ball, pulled towards square leg for four. Rahane in sublime form. Single each to Rahane and Sanju. End of the over: RR 84-2. That's half-way mark. RR scoring at 8.4 per over.

Over 11: Nadeem back with his third over. Runs coming from the leg side. Two, one, one. Rahane and Sanju rotating the strike very well. That is very clever batting. Pushed from covers. Single. And Nadeem strikes. Sanju palyed-on. Edge, onto the pads, and hits the wickets. Unfortunate for Sanju, out for 37 from 22. End of over: RR 90-3

Over 12: Jos Butler joins Rahane. Tewatia brings in his third over. Butlers hits it hard for a double. Good work by Shami in the deep.A reverse sweep by Butler, behind the wicket for four. That one raced away to the boundary. Single. Well fielded inside the circle. End of over: RR 99-3

Over 13: Shami is back, and Rahane steps out and welcomes him with a four. Once again, lofted in the air and one bounce to the fence. Good effort by Boult in the deep in vain. Back to back boundaries. Dot ball. That's a relief. And one more dot. good comeback. Single to end the over. RR 108-3

Over 14: Nadeem with his final over. Rahane steps out, just for a single. Reverse sweep, two runs. Leading edge and a clean catch. Rahane gone. Tried to flick it down the leg side, but played it a little too early, hence the leading edge and Nadeem gets the all-important wicket of Rahane. Rahane out for 45 from 40. Rahul Tripathi joins Butler. End of the over: RR 113-4. Strategic time-out

Over 15: Very tight over by Shami. Only four runs conceded. Obvious. New batsman Rahul will take some time to adjust before he gets going. 

Over 16: Tewatia bowling his final over. Singles and doubles won't do it. The batsmen are trying too much. Just six runs from first five balls. Wide by Tewatia. Double to end the over. RR 126-4. Delhi bowlers have kept it quiet in last two over.

Over 17: Morris is back and greeted by a six.Rahul smashed that. Single. Now Butler smashes one. Over the fence. Good effort by  Maxwell but he fails to keep it inside, but commendable. Four, Butler is now really giving it back to Morris. 18 came of that over. RR 144-4.

Over 18: Shami back. Butler moves away, gives himself room and clears the fence for six. Not a good day for Shami. That was a treat to watch. Dot ball, onto the pads. Brilliant stuff from Shami, again onto the pads, saw Butler moving away. Well done. Butler moves across, tries to play it behind the wicket, ball hits the stumps. Butler gone for 29 from 18. More importantly, that is 3 dot balls in a row in 18th over. Krishnappa Gowtham comes in. Shami bangs one short and it is wide. Gowtham flicks for 2 and covers are on the field. Rain comes pouring down. After 17.5 overs RR 153-5

Rajasthan Royals innings at a glance after 18 overs:

Asked to bat first after Delhi Daredevils captain Gautam Gambhir won the toss, Ajinkya Rahane and D’Arcy Short opened the batting for Rajasthan Royals. In the first over Rajasthan Royals openers gave RR a decent start as they looked cautious of Trent Boult’s swinging deliveries. Shabaz Nadeem came in to bowl in the second over and was hit for a boundary off the very first ball. But Short’s shots were few and, like in the first match against SRH, he was rut out by Vijay Shanker’s direct hit while taking a second run off the second ball of the 2nd over. Ben stokes came to bat after Short’s dismissal. Boult gave away 5 runs in his second over as the bowl was swinging and it was hard for Stokes and Rahane to score big. Things weighing more in favour of Delhi Daredevils so far.

Chris Morris replaced Nadeem for the 4th over of the innings and he did not look as threating as Boult: He gave away 9 runs, including a six over the square, which was hit by Ben Stokes, in his over.

However, a swinging Trent Boult delivery got rid of Stokes, who was looking good after his rusty innings against SRH, as Rishab Pant took a diving catch. Sanju Samson, who came to bat after the Stokes’ wicket, dispatched Boult for a four at point and a six over square leg in the 5th over the innings. Even though they lost Ben Stokes’ wicket, Delhi Daredevils gave away 15 runs. Samson looked in a good touch as he was timing the bowl well. After giving 9 runs in his first over, Chris Morris pulled it back a little for Delhi Daredevils and gave away 8 runs off his next.

Rajasthan Royals do not seem to be having any better luck than the first game, which they lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad by 9 wickets. So far, they have lost two quick wickets in the form of D’Arcy Short and Ben Stokes. As at the end of 10 overs, skipper Ajinkya Rahane is playing carefully, and Sanju Samson is going for the runs from the other end – together, are trying to building a partnership without risking much.

After the end of powerplay, Rahane and Samson put up a good partnership to bring back Rajasthan Royals in the game after initial jitters. They had a 62-run partnership before Samson got bowled off Nadeem bowling in the 11th over of the inning. Samson’s wicket was a big blow for RR as he was looking good. Butler, who came to bat also looked good as he swept Tewatia for a four in the second ball he faced. While trying to accelerate, Rahane greeted Shami in his 2nd over with two boundaries. Rahane got out of Nadeem’s bowling as he tried to pull Nadeem and got a leading edge to point.

Tewatia who has been economical throughout innings gave away 9 runs as Rajasthan Royals looked desperate to score quick runs. Tewatia finished his final quota of over with a figure of 29 runs with no wickets.

Rahul Tripathi greeted Chris Morris with a six over mid-wicket followed by Butler’s six over long on. Chris Morris leaked 18 runs as Rajasthan Royals came back into the game with a bang.

Butler is in hitting mode as he brings 150 runs for Rajasthan Royals with a six over long off and putting Delhi under immence pressure. But Shami pulled for Delhi as he got rid of dangerous Butler of the 4th ball of the 18th over. Butler scored 29 runs off 16 balls with a strike rate of 161.11.

And the match is stopped due to rain 

 
Here are a few things you should know about the Rajasthan Royals vs Delhi Daredevils match being played at Sawai Man Singh Stadium in Jaipur, the two squads and what to expect from Match 6 of IPL 2018:
  
Rahane on loss against Sunrisers Hyderabad and what needs to be done to escape defeat: Skipper Anjikya Rahane too would like to forget the outing where he failed with the bat, missed a sitter in slips and also gambled with batting only to see a complete rout of his team. "We thought on this wicket, 150-160 would have been ideal total because ball was doing the bit and medium pacers got good help. But, we didn't get that one partnership. I think we lost crucial wickets in between. Partnership was the key in between. I think foreigners who played, they are really good. D'Arcy Short, he did really well in Big Bash, did well for Australia recently, Joss Butler and Stokes, we all know how dangerous they are and Ben Laughlin is an experienced bowler in T20 cricket," Rahane said at the post-match press conference.
 
How Delhi Daredevils played against Kings XI Punjab: Newly appointed captain Gautam Gambhir (55) led from the front but lacked support around him. Delhi's batting is not that strong either with lack of experieneced names effecting the middle order. Lokesh Rahul's 16-ball 55 -- fastest IPL fifty -- made matters worse for them but a cause of worry for Delhi is seamer Mohammed Shami going for a lot of runs as Delhi will want him to deliver alongwith New Zealand pacer Trent Boult. Delhi will start as favourites against Rajasthan but unlike their first match if the likes of in-form D'Arcy Short, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler or Ben Laughlin fire on the morrow, it could well be Rajasthan's field day at home as all the players have reputation of turning the game around.
 
After 2 years, how Sawai Man Singh Stadium prepared for Rajasthan Royals vs Delhi Daredevils: After an endless wait, cricket is finally returning to the Sawai Man Singh stadium on Wednesday. It will be a memorable day in the history of Sawai Man Singh Stadium and the Pink City will be cheering on some great hits and catches once again. The tussle between the Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) led to the discontinuation of matches in the SMS Stadium. The differences were sorted out earlier this year. While talking about pitch and ground condition, veteran curator Taposh Chatterjee said that they were hit hard by the RCA ban. Despite financial crunch we maintained the wicket and the outfield. There has not been much cricket on it but we have tried hard to sustain grass on it because it is this ingrown grass which binds the soil of the wicket. "It is not the 200 run kind of wicket but 160-170 would be achievable because ball would come nicely on to the bat. The bowlers would also have something for them. They might find good bounce out of this surface, said veteran curator Taposh Chatterjee.
 
Ish Sodhi replaces injured Zahir Khan for Rajasthan Royals: New Zealand leg-spinner Ish Sodhi has been signed by the Rajasthan Royals as a replacement for injured Afghanistan bowler Zahir Khan in the IPL 2018. Sodhi was picked from the Registered Available Player Pool (RAPP) list and this will be his first outing in the IPL. He has played 15 Tests, 22 One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and 26 T20I for New Zealand so far.

Team Head to Head

	Matches	Rajasthan Royals(won)	Delhi Daredevils(won)
Overall	16	10	6
Jaipur	4	3	1

Trivia ahead of Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Daredevils match

• The IPL will return to the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur for the first time since 2013.
• The Rajasthan Royals have an incredible record while playing at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium; they have a 24–9 win-loss record at the venue. Under Shane Warne, who wanted his team to treat their home ground as a ‘fortress’, RR won each of their seven matches in the inaugural season of the IPL.
• Ajinkya Rahane has scored more runs against the Delhi Daredevils than against any other IPL opponent; in 15 matches against DD, Rahane has an aggregate of 632 runs – which includes nine innings of 40 or more – at an average of 63.20.