Rajasthan Royals 199 for 4 (Buttler 79, Jaiswal 60, Mukesh 2-36) beat Delhi Capitals 142 for 9 (Warner 65, Chahal 3-27, Boult 3-29) by 57 runs
Capitals were 0 for 2 after one over; Royals were 20 for 0. That was how massive the difference between the two sides was in Guwahati. Royals’ winning margin of 57 runs was justified, as Capitals suffered a hat-trick of defeats to start their season.
Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal bash away
Royals headed into this match with the highest run rate in the powerplay among all sides to have batted for at least 12 overs during that phase this season. That figure stood at 11.83, and they furthered their reputation by hammering 68 in the first six overs against Capitals. The assault was led by Jaiswal, who was on 41 from 21 balls by the end of the first six; Buttler, at the other end, was on 24 from 15. And that was down to 14 fours smashed until then – 56 runs out of 68.
After Jaiswal had targeted Khaleel in the first over – boundaries flowed over midwicket, through deep third, to deep extra cover, over long-on and above short third – Buttler went after Anrich Nortje. Three boundaries were hit in the second over, with the third one the most effortless yet most impressive: it looked as soft as a pat on the back, pushed wide of mid-off with superb timing and placement.
As if that was not enough, Nortje had more to suffer: off the last ball of the fourth over, he turned around from mid-on and sprinted a good 25 yards, attempting to catch a mis-hit from Buttler over his right shoulder. But he ended up juggling, and the ball popped out of his hands. Buttler was on 18 at that stage; he finished with 79.
Just after that, Jaiswal reverse swept, cut and swept Axar Patel for three fours in the fifth over. He finished with 60, as the opening stand of 98 ended in the ninth over.
Impact Player strategy
Capitals substituted Khaleel with Shaw to start their chase of 200. But Shaw lasted all of three deliveries. He went flicking across the line as Boult pitched one full on fourth stump; Shaw ended up getting an outside edge. Sanju Samson, behind the stumps, flung himself to his right to grab it one-handed and give Capitals a rude shock.
Royals in turn opted to bring in M Ashwin for Buttler when Capitals were 42 for 3 after seven overs. However, his services turned out to be a mere formality: he was brought on only when Capitals needed an unrealistic 82 from the last four overs, and he almost had David Warner straightaway. The batter swatted straight to extra cover, where Jaiswal was stationed, but he was found to be standing a few yards beyond the circle when the ball was delivered, resulting in a fielding-restriction violation. It was thus called a no-ball, and Ashwin’s only over went for 11.
Trent Boult lets it rip – again
Although the credit for the first wicket might equally go to Samson, the ball had landed on a perfect line and an enticing length: Boult pitched it on the fuller side on middle and off, angling it slightly across to have Shaw edging behind.
Next ball, he got one to angle into the comeback man Pandey, who was undone by the fuller ball darting in. It took Warner a bit of convincing to get Pandey to review; the latter he knew where the ball was heading. Replays confirmed it would have smacked into leg stump. That over finished a double-wicket maiden, and Boult’s first spell read 2-1-9-2, before he ended the day with 3 for 29.
Warner’s consolation fifty
Warner limped to 65 from 55 balls, as only two others entered double figures in Capitals’ chase. His stand of 64 for the fourth wicket with Lalit Yadav gave them a flicker of hope, but it was too little for them to rebuild from 36 for 3 in the sixth over. A third defeat in a row duly followed, leaving Capitals with some thinking to do.
Himanshu Agrawal is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
Source: ESPN Crickinfo