In a match that had its ebbs and flows, Delhi Capitals (DC) held their nerve to emerge victorious over Rajasthan Royals (RR) in a thrilling Super Over and climb atop the points table at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Wednesday.
On a slow pitch, late cameos from captain Axar Patel, Tristan Stubbs, and Ashutosh Sharma rescued DC from a precarious position and enabled them to post a formidable 188/5. In reply, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Nitish Rana threatened to take RR to victory by smashing 51 runs each.
But Mitchell Starc’s defense of nine runs in the final over meant the game went into a Super Over, which happened for the first time in the IPL after 2022. Starc again delivered for DC in the Super Over, as RRwase kept to 12. Stubbs and KL Rahul kept themselves calm to ensure DC clinched an incredible win, which was also their first victory of the ongoing season in New Delhi.
In the Super Oval, DC went ahead with Starc against Shimron Hetmyer and Riyan Parag. The duo hit a boundary each off him, including off a no-ball, before committing a harakiri by being run out on successive balls and setting a target of 12 runs to win for DC.
After taking two runs on the first ball, Rahul sliced Sandeep Sharma for four, before taking a single. Stubbs then pulled Sandeep over deep mid-wicket for six to seal a thrilling win for DC, who have now won a Super Over for the fourth time in their history of being in the IPL.
RR had a bright start to the chase as Sanju Samson and Jaiswal clubbed a six each off Mukesh Kumar. Jaiswal brought out the slice, swivel pull, and across-the-line swipe to take two fours and a six off Mitchell Starc. Samson continued to be at his aggressive best by dispatching Mukesh over long-on for six while edging Mohit Sharma for four.
After being dropped on 20 by Ashutosh Sharma, Samson nailed two pulled shots off Vipraj Nigam for six and four, respectively. But after he missed playing a cut-off Nigam, Samson picked up a rib injury and walked off the field for 31. After RR ended the power-play at 63/0, Axar Patel struck by castling Riyan Parag with a slower delivery for eight.
Jaiswal continued to be aggressive by lofting Kuldeep for six, before slog-sweeping Axar for four and hammering Stubbs over the long-on fence for another maximum, as he brought up his third IPL fifty in 34 balls. But in the face of a rising run rate due to three tight overs, Jaiswal tried to loft a flighted ball from Axar but holed out to long-on for 51.
Rana, who had hit two boundaries by then, got a six off Axar as the ball burst through Stubbs’ hands while getting two fours off a lucky edge and hammering down the ground. He then pulled and reverse-swept Kuldeep for six and four respectively, before getting his fifty in 26 balls by scooping past Kuldeep, who jarred his left shoulder and went off the field.
But Starc nailed a toe-crushing incoming yorker to trap Rana lbw for 51, giving DC some hope to make a late fightback. Dhurv Jurel and Shimron Hetmyer hit a couple of boundaries to ensure RR got home, but Starc bowling five pinpoint yorkers in the final over before Jurel was run out ensured the match went into a Super Over, which DC won in front of their jubilant home crowd.
Previously, RR bowled brilliantly to keep DC on a tight leash, as they reached 111/4 in 15 overs. But from there, Axar came in to hammer a sensational 34 off 14 balls, while Stubbs made the same number of runs in 18 balls and Ashutosh Sharma hit an unbeaten 15, as the trio’s impactful batting ensured DC got 77 runs off the last five overs.
Jake Fraser-McGurk got going by smashing Jofra Archer for two boundaries, before spooning one off him to mid-off. One brought two for RR as Karun Nair was run out for a duck by an underarm throw by Sandeep. Abishek Porel took a liking to Tushar Deshpande’s pace and lengths by hitting four boundaries and a six in the 23-run second over, with the wristy flick going over the deep backward square leg fence being the standout shot.
With Sandeep and Maheesh Theekshana keeping things tight, while Wanindu Hasaranga found some grip, especially when bowling the googly, Porel and Rahul struggled to break free. Rahul, despite hitting some lovely boundaries, didn’t get any elevation and holed out to deep mid-wicket, while Porel’s quest to go downtown against Hasaranga resulted in him toe-ending a loft to long-off.
Axar signalled a shift of gears when he pulled, hammered, and slogged Hasaranga for two fours and a six, before seeing Riyan Parag drop Tristan Stubbs on 12 at long-off in a 19-run 16th over. He then moved across to pull a full toss from Theekshana for six, before slicing and swivelling him for back-to-back boundaries.
Theekshana, though, had the last laugh by having Axar hole out to long-off for a 14-ball 34. Ashutosh Sharma used Archer’s pace well to guide him twice behind square on the off-side, while Stubbs scooped him well for another boundary, as 16 runs came off the 19th over.
With Sandeep giving four wides and a no-ball, Stubbs took DC past 180 with a whipped four and slogged six, before being dropped by Theekshana on the last ball of the innings, as 19 runs came off an 11-ball final over, giving DC the momentum to win the match in a dramatic way.
Brief scores:
Delhi Capitals 188/5 in 20 overs (Abishek Porel 49, KL Rahul 38, Axar Patel 34; Jofra Archer 2-32, Wanindu Hasaranga 1-38) tied with Rajasthan Royals 188/4 in 20 overs (Nitish Rana 51, Yashasvi Jaiswal 51; Axar Patel 1-23, Kuldeep Yadav 1-33)
Super Over: RR 12/2 in five balls lost to DC 13/0 in four balls
