IPL 2023: Top moments from RR vs DC in Guwahati

Guwahati: Rajasthan Royals jumped to top of the Indian Premier League standings after a convincing 57-run win over Delhi Capitals in Guwahati on Saturday. With the result, DC remain winless this season and are second from bottom.

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Batting first, RR scored 199/4 from their 20 overs and then restricted DC to 142/9 with an equally lethal bowling display.

Difference in starts

The two teams could not have had a more contrast start. Rajasthan Royals opener Yashasvi Jaiswal sent Khaleel Ahmed to the clear in their first over – smacking five boundaries. That set the tone of the match and made RR’s intentions clear. A punch through the covers for a four also highlighted the small ground size and nature of the pitch. The second over produced the same with three more boundaries, this time from Jos Buttler’s bat, to take RR to 32/0 from two overs.

In comparison, DC lost their first wicket – of Prithvi Shaw – on the third ball and Manish Pandey walked back on the very next ball off Trent Boult. The left-arm seamer’s delivery eked an edge from Shaw’s bat and was clutched beautifully by Sanju Samson. On the next, Pandey was beaten with the swing and a review didn’t come to his aid. Boult produced a double wicket maiden with Rilee Rossouw denying a hat-trick opportunity.

RR lose flow

Two wickets in two overs reduced RR’s batting flow. They were 68/0 after the powerplay and 103/2 by the 10 overs mark. Two wickets in two overs put the brakes on their free-flowing shot making.

Jaiswal fell first to Mukesh Kumar and then Kuldeep Yadav removed Samson for a duck. Riyan Parag couldn’t make an impact either and Buttler was forced into checking his shots.

Shimron Hetmyer presses the accelerator again

Buttler found an able ally in Shimron Hetmyer to once again hit the gas. The duo put together 49 runs from 28 balls. When Buttler fell to Mukesh Kumar, with an odd caught and bowled, it brought to the middle an in-form Dhruv Jurel.

He lived up to the billing with a first-ball six. But it was Hetmyer who was making the bigger impact and not caring about who was at the other end. In the final over of the inning, he hit the speedy Anrich Nortje for two sixes.

In the last five overs, RR produced 69 runs to go from 130/3 at the 15 over mark.

200 run target, early blows

After the early blows delivered by Boult, Rossouw kept the scoreboard ticking but not for long as he fell rather softly to Ravichandran Ashwin.

However, the combination of Lalit Yadav and DC captain David Warner kept the fight alive with a 50-run stand. They were able to stabilise the innings and restore some respectability. But the hitting wasn’t big enough to bring the asking rate down. The pressure eventually told and wickets fell.

Warner struggles in 65 run knock

Even as his teammates stuttered one after another with no one able to hit the ball the wat RR did, Warner was equally ineffectively.

Batting at a sub-par strike rate, Warner scored 65 runs, reached 6000 IPL runs along the way, took the Orange Cap, but looked a shadow of his former self in a tame dismissal and collapse.

He eventually fell to Yuzvendra Chahal, who took three wickets, and DC suffered another blow to their morale.

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