Kuldeep, Mukesh, openers seal crucial win for Capitals

Delhi Capitals 221 for 8 (Porel 65, Fraser-McGurk 50, Ashwin 3-24) beat Rajasthan Royals 201 for 8 (Samson 86, Kuldeep 2-27, Mukesh 2-30) by 20 runs

Sanju Samson‘s 46-ball 86 went in vain as Delhi Capitals’ 221 proved to be a few too many for Rajasthan Royals to chase. Kuldeep Yadav, Mukesh Kumar and Khaleel Ahmed shared six wickets between them as DC successfully defended their total after being put in to bat, subjecting RR to their second defeat on the trot.
Jake Fraser-McGurk and Abishek Porel set up DC’s batting effort as they both hit rapid half-centuries.

R Ashwin, who had come into the game with two wickets in the season, returned a three-wicket haul to slow DC down, but Tristan Stubbs once again provided the hosts with a powerful finish to take them to a total beyond Royals’ reach.

Fraser-McGurk’s new-ball domination

Jake Fraser-McGurk came into the match with an average of 57.33 and strike rate close to 300 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. On Tuesday, Trent Boult started from around the wicket to try and stop him from getting off to a flyer. For one over, it worked.
But when Boult returned for his second over, Fraser-McGurk met him with a loft down the ground for six before hitting him for two more fours in a 15-run over. He then tore into Avesh Khan, starting his first over with three consecutive fours and finishing it by going 6, 4, 6 to bring up his half-century off 19 deliveries.

Porel keeps up the momentum

Ashwin struck in the final over of the powerplay, as Fraser-McGurk thrashed a low full toss straight to cover. Shai Hope was then run out at the non-striker’s end as Sandeep Sharma got a hand to deflect it onto the stumps after Porel hit down the ground.

But Porel did not let Capitals’ momentum slip away, racing to a 28-ball half-century of his own. Porel took on Riyan Parag and Yuzvendra Chahal to keep the boundaries coming.

Even after Axar Patel fell in the tenth over, Porel helped Capitals take 27 runs off the next two overs before becoming Ashwin’s third victim of the night.

Full report to follow

Abhimanyu Bose is a sub-editor with ESPNcricinfo

Source: ESPN Crickinfo

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