Iyer hits 43 before Royals collapse around Samson
Delhi Capitals 154 for 6 (Iyer 43, Hetmyer 28, Mustafizur 2-22) beat Rajasthan Royals 121 for 6 (Samson 70*, Nortje 2-18, Ashwin 1-20) by 33 runs
What appeared at the innings break like a small mountain to climb soon looked like Everest to a struggling Rajasthan Royals batting lineup as Delhi Capitals turned in a disciplined team bowling effort led by Anrich Nortje to comfortably defend 154, winning by 33 runs in Abu Dhabi on Saturday afternoon.
Royals were always behind in the chase after losing three wickets in the powerplay as the overseas pair of Liam Livingstone and David Miller fell cheaply to dent Royals chances. Sanju Samson could have been the fourth to fall in the sequence but was reprieved by DRS. He waged a lone battle through the rest of the innings, ending unbeaten on 70 off 53 balls but receiving little support at the opposite end. Mahipal Lomror’s 19 served as the only other score to get into double-digits as the Capitals strangled the scoring rate from start to finish to seal a victory that puts them two points clear of Chennai Super Kings into sole possession of first place in the IPL points table.
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Peter Della Penna is ESPNcricinfo’s USA correspondent @PeterDellaPenna
Source: ESPN Crickinfo