New Delhi: Rajasthan Royals kept up their nerves to beat Delhi Daredevils by five runs in thriller at Feroze Shah Kotla ground here on Saturday.
Kevon Cooper bowled some deadly Yorkers in the final over of the match to ensure Rajasthan the victory. Cooper picked up three wickets even as David warner fired for the Daredevils and took his team on the verge of winning the match. However warner’s dismissal tilted the balance in Rajasthan’s favour. Warner scored a blistering 77 off55 balls which was studded with nine fours and one six.
Earlier, Rahul Dravid played a sensational knock of 65 runs off just 51 balls to take his team to a competitive score of 165 for the loss of seven wickets.
Chasing the target, Delhi opening duo of David Warner and Unmukt Chand started off well by playing some good aggressive strokes as they made the most of power play by adding 39 runs on the scoreboard. But they suffered a huge blow when S Sreesanth knocked off Unmukt. Unmukt departed after making 23 off 19 balls. Sreesanth was looking in great rhythm throughout his spell of four overs and was unsung hero as he gave just 18 runs.
However, Royals were finding it tough to contain the dashing Warner who found an able partner in captain Mahela Jayawardane. Both the batsmen kept the score board ticking and were looking good. But at the score of 82, Mahela departed when got a leading edge and Ajinkya Rahane took off a brilliant catch which proved to be the turning point of the match.
After this Manpreet Juneja came on to the middle. He kept on rotating the strike well with Warner and added 67 runs, most of the runs being scored by Warner. Juneja departed after scoring 20 runs in the third ball of 18th over. Delhi was still 16 runs short and was looking in comfortable position. But in the very next over, Warner got run-out by Brad Hodge. Warner scored 77 runs of 55 balls.
With 12 runs needed off nine balls, Delhi were still having the upper hand. Johan Botha made the mess of the chase by just picking up singles. Botha was adjudged leg before wicket on the third ball of final over. Meanwhile Andre Russell too lasted for just six deliveries and added just 7 runs to the total before getting out to Kevin Cooper in his final over and Delhi Daredevils lost the match by five runs.
Earlier in the day, Rajasthan Royals won the toss and elected to bat first. They started off with the flurry of boundaries as their Sri-Lankan opening batsman Kushal Perera gave them a flying start by scoring 14 runs off 12 balls. Ajinkya Rahane kept his cool and took calculated risks. He ably supported his captain Rahul Dravid. They put on a 65 run partnership for the second wicket. But after that, Rahane departed when he gave a simple catch to Shahbaz Nadeem off his own bowling.
Dismissal of Rahane brought Sturat Binny in to the centre and he started taking on Delhi bowlers from the word go and smacked Johan Botha for 19 runs in his only over that he bowled. Binny played a nice cameo of 40 runs in just 20 balls and gave the much needed momentum to the Rajasthan Royals innings. He departed when he tried to swing a full toss off Umesh Yadav’s bowling.
Dravid who was looking well settled departed in the 19th over after making 65 runs off just 51 balls in which he scored six fours and two sixes. Yadav got Dravid and Brad Hodge out in his final over and ended with the bowling figures of 4/24.
Meanwhile Ashish Nehra, picked up two wickets in his final over and ended up with 2/35 in his four overs. Rajasthan Royals played exceptionally well to post a very competitive total of 165 runs on the board.