New Delhi: The 500th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL), and 36th match of 2015 edition was marked with a special knock by Ajinkya Rahane at the Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai. His unbeaten 91 off 54 proved the difference between winners. With the win, Shane Watson's side return to winning ways and now lead the table. With the defeat, Jean-Paul Duminy's side will need to win four of the five matches to keep their play-off hopes.
A comfortable win at the end for Rajasthan Royals. After posting a big total, their bowlers responded with purpose, bowling out Delhi Daredevils for 175 runs.
Delhi Daredevils innings, target 190
Over 20 || 175/5 (Tiwary 28; Mishra 1)
Tiwary and Mishra could only gather only 15 runs and Delhi lost the match by 14 runs.
Tim Southee did the required to help Rajasthan break their winless streak.
Delhi Daredevils innings, target 190
Over 19 || 160/5 (Tiwary 11; Mishra 1)
Dhawal Kulkarni almost gifted the match to Delhi. His fourth and final over cost 15 runs to Rajasthan and it lasted nine deliveries, including a wicket taking one.
Nathan Coulter-Nile tried to hit a successive sixes but a brilliant catch at boundary helped Kulkarni with a wicket. The over sequence: wide, 1, wide, 6, wk, 4, 1,0.
WICKET: Nathan Coulter-Nile c Steven Smith b Dhawal Kulkarni 6 (2b)
Amit Mishra is the new batsman. Delhi require 30 runs from the last over.
Over 18 || 145/6 (Tiwary 11; Coulter-Nile 0)
Finally captain courageous Jean-Paul Duminy departs. The South African fell victim to a good catch by Dhawal Kulkarni at short fine leg off Faulker's final delivery.
WICKET: Jean-Paul Duminy c Dhawal Kulkarni b James Faulkner 56 (39b)
Faulkner's figure: 4-0-22-2, more than decent. Nathan Coulter-Nile is the new man. The over leaked seven runs and a wicket.
Delhi need 45 runs from 12 balls.
Over 17 || 138/5 (Duminy 51; Tiwary 9)
Excellent bowling, fielding, and batting all in one over. Time Southee continued to run with purpose and produced those teasing deliveries. But Tiwary was no easy meat. He hit the Kiwi bowler for a six, in the sixth delivery. Couple of deliveries before. Rajat Bhatia thrown himself to stop a probable four.
Delhi now need 52 from 18 balls. In between, Duminy reached his fifty. More required from the skipper, though.
Over 16 || 126/5 (Duminy 40; Tiwary 1)
Delhi, despite their best effort to keep up with the asking rate, are losing momentum with each wicket. Kedar Jadhav, who was looking in great touch, departed in a bid to increase the run rate. Good catch from Watson, who covered some distance to take the catch deep cover.
WICKET: Kedar Jadhav c Shane Watson b Dhawal Kulkarni 11 (7b)
Manoj Tiwary joined his skipper.
Over 15 || 120/4 (Duminy 42; Jadhav 11)
Another expensive over from Rajat Bhatia. Conceded nine runs from his second over. Duminy started with a dot, then a single brought Kedar Jadhav to strike and he dismissed the third ball to side nettings over the midwicket boundary.
Delhi need 70 more runs from 30 balls. Considering Royals' past record in recent matches, Delhi will keep their chances.
Over 14 || 111/4 (Duminy 40; Jadhav 4)
Watson's bowling change worked once again. Stuart Binny returned to take the wicket of experience Angelo Mathews. The Sri Lankan hit Binny for a four in the previous delivery, but a fine nick ended with the ball inside Sanju Samson's gloves.
WICKET: Angelo Mathews c Sanju Samson b Stuart Binny 16 (17b)
Kedar Yadhav joined Duminy. 10 runs despite the wicket-delivery from Binny -- a four, a couple each of singles and doubles, and a wide.
Over 13 || 101/3 (Duminy 40; Mathews 12)
Some urgency in the Delhi batting finally. JP Duminy punished Rajat Bhatia with a six and four of successive eliveries. Bhatia's first over leaked 14 runs.
Delhi now need 89 from 42 balls, and the Duminy-Mathews partnership is now worth 36 runs from 25 balls.
Over 12 || 87/3 (Duminy 27; Mathews 11)
Watson, this time, failed to dominate. After a decent first delivery, for a dot, Duminy sent the ball crashing into the long on stands for his first six of the day. Two balls then, a single. Sri Lankan skipper Mathews hooked the fifth delivery for a four. With a couple from the last delivery, it became a 15-run over.
From 3-1-10-1, Watson's figure read 4-1-25-1.
Over 11 || 72/3 (Duminy 18; Mathews 5)
Rajasthan bowlers continued to apply the pressure on Delhi batsmen. Another good over for the fielding side. Faulkner started his third over with a dot, then a wide. Mathews consumed another three balls before taking a couple, then another double.
Delhi will need more than a couple of huge over to catch up.
Over 10 || 67/3 (Duminy 18; Mathews 1)
Watson is on a song. The Aussie returned with another tidy over. Only one from his third over. His spell reads, 3-1-10-1. Splendid.
Angelo Mathews consumed four balls for his single and Duminy eat-up the two.
Delhi need 123 more runs from 60 overs. Huge ask.
Over 9 || 66/3 (Duminy 18; Mathews 1)
Blinder of a catch. Stauart Binny sent back Yuvraj Singh to the hut with a sensational catch at deep square leg. Yuvi, once again perished to a bouncer. Faulkner kept the ball off the line, and the ever climbing ball was hit with power by Yuvi, and the batsman probably, would have thought for a six. But...
WICKET: Yuvraj Singh c Stuart Binny b James Faulkner 22 (18b)
Angelo Mathews joined his skipper in the centre.
Earlier in the over, Duminy got his second boundary with a glide off the back foot.
Over 8 || 59/2 (Duminy 13; Yuvraj 21)
Brilliant over from Watson. The Rajasthan skipper is leading by examples. After that wicket-taking over, the Aussie all-rounder bowled a one-run over. Yuvi played out the first three for a single, then Duminy consumed the last three.
TIME-OUT
Over 7 || 58/2 (Duminy 13; Yuvraj 20)
World Cup winner James Faulkner got his first over. Brilliant start, three runs from it. Faulkner has able to control the moving ball as against his skipper Watson. Yuvi had some trouble playing those moving deliveries.
Delhi need 132 more runs from 13 overs.
Over 6 || 55/2 (Duminy 12; Yuvraj 18)
Vintage Yuvi on show. Sublime timing from the southpaw. First, on the toes, he flicked for a four, then a sumptuous cover drive. It was followed by another four on the leg side which beat the keeper. A single at the beginning of the over and another at the end, made it a costly over for Rajasthan. 14 runs from Dhawam Kulkarni's second over.
Over 5 || 32/2 (Duminy 11; Yuvraj 5)
And the skipper introduced himself, for a golden-wicket. Shreyas Iyer was caught unmoved and the swinging delivery from Shane Watson did just enough to get the insides edge to clean up the stumps. Discredit to the batsman. He was rooted to the pitch, and all branches.
WICKET: Shreyas Iyer b Shane Watson 9 (12b)
Yuvraj Singh joined Duminy. The flambouyant Indian all-rounder, who is riding a rough patch, dedfended the first ball he faced. A rusty looking Watson bowled two back-to-back wides, then Yuvi scampered for a single. Then rotation strike brought Yuvraj back in the strike. Then a punch off the back-foot to beat the fielder at mid-off for his first four. Another wide, then a dot. Nine runs from the over.
Delhi required 149 runs from 90 balls.
Over 4 || 32/1 (Iyer 9; Duminy 10)
Southee changed ends, and produced a brilliant over. He conceded only 1 run. Exceptional from the Kiwi. Iyer consumed four balls for a leg-bye, then Duminy fended off the remaining two for none. Good captaincy!
Over 3 || 31/1 (Iyer 9; Duminy 10)
Shane Watson introduced Stuart Binny, in place of Tim Southee. After a dot ball, Agarwal hoisted a six over the long off boundary. But the very next delivery, Binny got the better of Agarwal, who dragged the ball into the stumps.
WICKET: Mayank Agarwal b Stuart Binny 11 (8b)
Delhi skipper Jean -Paul Duminy joined Iyer in the centre. He played a dot ball, then opened his account with a straight four. A wide, then the South African pulled the last ball over the square leg boundary for the second six of the over.
17 runs from the over, and Delhi now need 159 more runs from 17 overs at just 10 an over rate.
Over 2 || 14/0 (Agarwal 5; Iyer 9)
Dhawan Kulkarni started his spell with a short of length delivery, which was guided past point by Iyer for a boundary. But Kulkarni responded with four dot balls. Then, Iyer got another four -- this time off a edge. Eight runs from the over. Delhi required 176 more runs from 18 overs.
Over 1 || 6/0 (Agarwal 5; Iyer 1)
It's Anjikya Rahane show at Mumbai. After carrying the bat through the Rajasthan Royals innings, he returned to the field for some live-wire fielding.
Tim Southee started the defence with a single, to Mayank Agarwal. Another single followed from the bat of Shreyas Iyer. But the Kiwi bowler responded two dot balls. Then, a possible wicket taking delivery ended with the ball hitting the fence. Deepak Hooda misread the trajectory of the ball hit ball Agarwal at square leg. Six runs from it.
Ajinkya Rahane possibly played a knock-out innings of 91 runs from 54 deliveries, latched with nine fours and three sixes to help Rajasthan Royals post a challenging total of 189.
Rajasthan Royals innings
Over 20 || 189/2 (Rahane 91; Faulkner 8)
Debutante Gurinder Sandhu bolwed the final over and leaked 15 overs. No surprise though, considering how his first three over went. In all, he conceded 49 runs.
Rahane started with a double, then a four followed before a risky single. Hard hitting Faulker completed the proceeding with a 2, 4 and 2.
Over 19 || 174/2 (Rahane 84; Faulkner 0)
Karun Nair launched the first delivery of the penultimate over deep midwicket boundary bolwed by Nathan Coulter-Nile, but a bad sight followed. Mayank Agarwal, who was lifting to take an improbable catch, fell badly requiring medical attention.
Then, the very next delivery, Nair tried a fancied shot -- a one-handed slash -- with the ball reaching to an onrushing Amit Mishra at deep cover. This time, no dropping.
WICKET: Karun Nair c Amit Mishra b NathanCoulter-Nile 61 (38b)
James Faulker joined Rahane. And Rahane continued... this time helping a misdirected delivery over the fine leg boundary for a six. 15 runs from the over.
Over 18 || 159/1 (Rahane 76; Nair 55)
With a four off the second delivery of Zaheer Khan's fourth over, Rahane has stitched a 100-run partnership with Nair. That lofted, straight drive was followed by another similar shot for back-to-back boundaries. Rahane, in between, also became the first player to reach 400 runs.
With ten runs from the over, Zaheer completed his four over. He leaked 31 runs without any success.
Over 17 || 149/1 (Rahane 67; Nair 54)
Drop catches galore today at Brabourne Stadium. Rahane once again got a life, third in total as Zaheer Khan and Amit Mishra made bad calls to let the skier drop. Two runs of that delivery from Sandhu. Rahane took a single, then Nair hit a six and two fours off successive deliveries to race to his fifty. 19 runs from it.
Over 16 || 130/1 (Rahane 64; Nair 38)
An expensive over from Amit Mishra. After starting with a dot ball, a loose delivery allowed Rahane to come down the pitch and lofted. It went straight over the bolwer's head for a six. Then a wide followed from Mishra. He could have send Rahane in the next delivery, but a misfield meant another boundary at deep cover. Poor fielding from Delhi. 16 runs from it.
Over 15 || 114/1 (Rahane 51; Nair 36)
Coulte-Nile not happy with a drop catch at third man. Nair edged the second delivery of the over rather high, but Manoj Tiwary made a mess of the opportunity. Then, couple of deliveries later, Rahane pulled for huge six over. Ten runs from the over. With that, Rahane reached his fifty from 36 deliveries.
Over 14 || 104/1 (Rahane 44; Nair 33)
After the second technical Time-Out, Amit Mishra returned to bowl his third over. Nair pushed defensively the flighted delivery for a single, then Rahane fended off for no run before running a single. Nair chipped the fourth delivery straight for a four. He then played out a dot ball before taking a single.
Second TIME-OUT
Over 13 || 97/1 (Rahane 43; Nair 27)
Mathews bowled his final over of the day, conceding nine runs. The over started with a couple of singles, then Nair punished him with four over the cover fielder. Three more runs from the over. In his spell, Mathews got the wicket of Shane Watson conceding 27 runs in four overs.
In between, Ajinkya Rahane has returned to the top of top-run getter in this edition of IPL. He overtook David Warner's 378 runs when he crossed the 40 runs with that four in the last over.
Over 12 || 88/1 (Rahane 42; Nair 19)
Sandhu returned for his second over. It started with a single from Rahane's blade. Two dot balls to the credit of the bowler. Nair took a couple more, then a single. Rahane pulled the last delivery with command for a four.
After that 52-run opening stand, Rahane and Nair are building another partnership. They have stitched 36 runs from 31 balls.
Over 11 || 80/1 (Rahane 37; Nair 16)
Mathews on for his third over on the trot. Nair took a single, with an outside edge. Rahane then played a dot ball before taking a couple. But the opener played reckless lofted drive, which could have ended his stay out there. But Gurinder Sandhu dropped an tough looking catch at deep. It resulted in two more runs. After a dot, the over ended with a single.
Over 10 || 74/1 (Rahane 32; Nair 15)
Duminy introduced Amit Mishra into the attack. Rahane got a single off the first delivery, Nair followed it up with a couple, then a dot ball for the spinner. Nair, then, slog-swept for a four. Another three runs from the last two deliveries.
Over 9 || 64/1 (Rahane 29; Nair 8)
Brilliant over from Angelo Mathews. After removing Watson in the last over, the Sri Lankan all-rounder stuck to his strength -- impeccable length and line with medium pace -- and result, only three runs, which included an extra in the form of leg-bye.
Over 8 || 61/1 (Rahane 27; Nair 8)
Delhi skipper Jean-Paul Duminy brought himself into the attack. But the spinner was welcomed with a four, by Karun Nair. A thick outside edge. A couple runs followed, then two balls. Duminy's first over ended with two singles. Eight runs from it.
Over 7 || 53/1 (Rahane 26; Nair 1)
Rahane continued to impress everyone. Welcome Angelo Mathews with a delicate late-cut for a four. After a single, Watson dispatched the short ball for a four through the backward square leg from back-foot.
But the very next delivery, Mathews got the prize wicket of Watson, caught behind by Kedar Jadhav after a brief juggling. The delivery shaped away, just to get a faint edge.
WICKET: Shane Watson c Kedar Jadhav b Angelo Mathews 21 (24b)
Karun Nair joined Rahane, and got to business with a single off the first ball he faced. Ten runs from the over.
TIME-OUT
Over 6 || 43/0 (Rahane 21; Watson 17)
Class act from Rahane. He played a majestic flick, the ball disappeared in the square leg boundary. But Coulter-Nile responded with short of length delivery, which was defended by Rahane. Then, three singles followed to make it a seven-run over.
Over 5 || 36/0 (Rahane 15; Watson 16)
No respect for the senior pro. Rahane disdainfully drove through the covers for his second boundary of the innings. A single to settle things a bit. Then, Watson played an exquisite lofted shot over the point fielder. After a dot ball, Watson once again hit Zaheer for a four thanks to an inside edge. First big over for the batting side. 13 runs.
Over 4 || 23/0 (Rahane 10; Watson 8)
Jean-Paul Duminy called in Nathan Coulter-Nile in to the attack. Rahane got a single off the first delivery with a defensive shot. Watson followed it up with a single, pushing the ball through the covers. Another single to Rahane. But the Australian responded with two dot balls. However, Watson got his first boundary with a delicate cut. Seven runs from the over.
Over 3 || 16/0 (Rahane 8; Watson 2)
Zaheer continued from the same end. Watson let go the first delivery, then a wide followed from the former India bowler, then another wide after a dot. Despite the occasional misdirected deliveries, Zaheer has moving the ball quite beautifully. Off the fourth delivery, though, Delhi players asked the umpire. Watson has failed to connect. But nothing happened. With a double, Zaheer conceded four runs from the over.
Over 2 || 12/0 (Rahane 8; Watson 1)
Sharing the new ball with Zaheer is Aussie fast bowler of Indian descent Gurinder Sandhu, who has made a name for himself Down Under with hard word and dedication. His compatriot Shane Watson defends the first delivery for a single. After a dot ball, Ajinkya Rahan guided the third delivery for a couple. Then, after another dot, the Indian batsman utilised Gurinder's pace to good effect for a four, over point. Seven runs from the over.
Over 1 || 4/0 (Rahane 1; Watson 0)
Experienced Zaheer Khan, who also played in the very first Indian Premier League match eight years ago, started the proceedings in the 500th match of this Twenty20 cricket tournament. Two runs off the first ball, thanks to a run on wide. But left-arm seamer did jut about enough to keep it 4-run over, Good start.
Rajasthan Royals XI: Ajinkya Rahane, Shane Watson (capt.), Steve Smith, Karun Nair, Sanju Samson (wk), Stuart Binny, Deepak Hooda, Tim Southee, Dhawal Kulkarni, James Faulkner, Rajat Bhatia
Delhi Daredevils XI: Mayank Agarwal, Shreyas Iyer, Manoj Tiwary, Jean-Paul Duminy (capt.), Yuvraj Singh, Angelo Mathews, Kedar Jadhav (wk), Nathan Coulter-Nile, Amit Mishra, Zaheer Khan, Gurinder Sandhu
TOSS:
Jean-Paul Duminy won the toss and invited Rajasthan Royals to bat first. And surprisingly Delhi Daredevils have dropped one of the leading wicket takers Imran Tahir for Gurinder Sandhu.
For home team Rajasthan Royals, Rajat Bhatia comes in for Ankit Sharma and James Faulkner for Rusty Theron.
A resurgent Delhi Daredevils will look to build their own winning momentum today with a win over Rajasthan Royals in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match at the Brabourne Stadium.
Also read: IPL 2015 Points Table
In their last match, Daredevils rode on splendid bowling display from Zaheer Khan and Nathan Coulter-Nile to beat Kings XI Punjab by nine wickets in Delhi.
For Rajasthan Royals, it's a downward spiral. They suffered third loss in their last five games (including two rain wash out matches) against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium.
Daredevils, thus, will start as favourites ans will seek to avenge their defeat against Rajasthan on the first leg of the fixture last month.
However, with a talented and motivated side, Royals will be a tough team to beat. Despite the recent slump in the form, they remained in second spot after leaders Chennai Super Kings.
Also read: IPL 2015 Fixtures
Teams (from):
Rajasthan Royals: Shane Watson (capt.), Ajinkya Rahane, Steve Smith, James Faulkner, Deepak Hooda, Sanju Samson (wk), Karun Nair, Dhawal Kuikarni, Tim Southee, Stuart Binny, Chris Morris, Pravin Tambe, Abhishek Nayar, Pardeep Sahu, Rusty Theron, Dinesh Salunkhe, Vikramjit Malik, Rahul Tewatia, Rajat Bhatia, Sagar Trivedi, Dishant Yagnik and Ankit Sharma.
Delhi Daredevils: JP Duminy (capt.), Yuvraj Singh, Manoj Tiwary, Quinton De Kock (wk), Imran Tahir, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Angelo Mathews, Gurinder Sandhu, Travis Head, Albie Morkel, Markus Stoinis, Kedar Jadhav (wk), Mayank Agarwal, Mohammed Shami, Amit Mishra, Jaidev Unadkat, Zaheer Khan, Shahbaz Nadeem, Saurabh Tiwary, Jayant Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, CM Gautam, Srikar Bharat, KK Jiyas, Domnic Joseph.
Also read: IPL 2015 Full Coverage
Match officials
Umpires: Kumar Dharmasena(SL), Chris Gaffaney(NZ)
Third Umpire: Nandan(IND)
Match Referee: Roshan Mahanama(SL)
