Delhi Capitals (DC) are back on the top of the IPL 2021 points table after they beat Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the 36th match of the tournament in Abu Dhabi by 33 runs and now have 16 points with 8 wins in 10 matches.
Batting first after losing the toss, DC made 154/6 with Shreyas Iyer top-scoring with 43 runs, while Shimron Hetmyer (28) and Rishabh himself made 24 runs. Mustafizur Rahman and Chetan Sakariya picked two wickets each for RR.
The total was not a huge one, but once again The DC pace attack came good as Anrich Nortje removed Yashasvi Jaiswal for 5 and Liam Livingstone was dismissed by Avesh Khan for 1. David Miller fell to R Ashwin and RR was playing catch from thereon.
Sanju Samson made 70* and Mahipal Lomror made 19 as RR managed 121/6 in 20 overs losing the game by 33 runs.
After the game, DC captain Rishabh Pant was happy with the team’s performance and spoke about it in the post-match conversation.
"[On his bowling attack] If not the best, it is one of the best. But we like to take it as one match at a time. There's a fair bit of planning, as a team we plan according to the batters and execute according to those plans. Ashwin likes to set his own fields. I am happy with my form. As long as the team is winning, I am happy. [On playing with Shreyas] We have batted together for a long time. He bats 3 and I bat 5 normally. So that helps,” Pant said, as quoted by ESPNCricinfo.
Samson, the RR captain lamented the fact that his team lost failed to get any momentum into the chase after losing quick wickets upfront.
He said: "I thought the total was chaseable but we lost too many wickets and weren't able to get any momentum in our chase. We might consider changes for the next game, but it is too early now. We have to remove all emotion before that."
DC next face KKR in Sharjah on September 28, while RR will face-off against SRH on September 27 in Dubai.
