Hetmyer hits 28 off 16 as Capitals return to top
SUMMARY: Delhi Capitals 154-6 (Shreyas Iyer 43, Shimron Hetmyer 28; Mustafizur Rahman 2-22) beat Rajasthan Royals 121-6 (Sanju Samson 70*, Mahipal Lomror 19; Anrich Nortje 2-18) by 33 runs.
Bowlers shared the spoils while Shreyas Iyer scored a valuable 43 as Delhi Capitals (DC) beat Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Match 36 of the VIVO Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.
Needing 155 runs to win, RR lost two wickets in the first two overs. While Avesh Khan dismissed Liam Livingstone, Anrich Nortje got Yashasvi Jaiswal. DC picked the third RR wicket in the fifth over as Ashwin had David Miller stumped.
Captain Sanju Samson, meanwhile, survived, courtesy a successful DRS as he and Mahipal Lomror added 31 runs together. But DC struck twice in the space of two overs as Kagiso Rabada and Axar Patel got Lomror and Riyan Parag out respectively.
While Sanju Samson scored a fighting half-century, DC bowlers kept the things tight, striking at regular intervals, and denying RR any momentum with the bat – helping the team seal a comfortable 33-run win.
DC and RR, who elected to bowl, made one and two changes each to their playing XIs from the last match. While Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw made a watchful start, RR struck in quick succession as Tyagi and Chetan Sakariya dismissed Dhawan and Shaw respectively.
With DC needing a rebuilding job, Shreyas Iyer and captain Rishabh Pant joined forces. The pair kept the scoreboard ticking as DC moved to 66-2 after the end of ten overs. In the next over, the Iyer-Pant duo completed a vital 50-run stand.
However, RR struck back via Mustafizur Rahman and Rahul Tewatia. While Mustafizur dismissed Pant, who chopped one back onto the stumps, Iyer got out for 43 after Sanju Samson’s fine work behind the stumps.
Shimron Hetmyer then scored a quickfire 28 off 16 balls as he and Lalit Yadav took DC past 120. But Mustafizur broke the stand as he dismissed Hetmyer in the 17th over before DC eventually posted 154-6 on the board. (IPL)
