Delhi Capitals captain Shreyas Iyer (left) and Shikhar Dhawan fist bump during the match against Rajasthan Royals in Dubai on Wednesday night. - BCCI/IPL
Dubai - Dhawan reaches 7500 runs in T20 cricket, while Iyer completes 1000 IPL runs as captain
Published: Wed 14 Oct 2020, 7:45 PM
Last updated: Thu 15 Oct 2020, 2:02 AM
Opener Shikhar Dhawan and captain Shreyas Iyer came up with half-centuries as the Delhi Capitals put up a modest score against the Rajasthan Royals in Dubai on Wednesday night.
Southpaw Dhawan scored his second successive fifty and second of the edition, while Iyer too came up with his second of the season as the Delhi Capitals posted 161-7 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
Dhawan made a 33-ball 57 with six boundaries and two sixes, the 39th of his IPL career. The Delhiite also went past 7500 runs in T20 cricket, in the process.
Iyer, meanwhile, stroked 53 from 43 deliveries with three fours and two sixes, with the knock being his 15th IPL fifty. The 25-year-old also completed 1000 IPL runs as captain.
Fast bowler Jofra Archer was the pick of the bowlers for the Rajasthan Royals with three for 19 from his four overs.
Medium pacer Jaydev Unadkat took two, while Kartik Tyagi and leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal had a wicket each.
Earlier, Iyer called right at the toss and the Delhi Capitals opted to have the first dig on the same surface that was used on Tuesday night.
The Delhi Capitals made one change with Tushar Deshpande replacing Harshal Patel, while Steve Smith retained faith in the same line-up that had pulled off a five-wicket win with a ball to spare against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
And Rajasthan had an unbelievable start with Jofra Archer cleaning up opener Prithvi Shaw with a beauty of a delivery. The Englishman hurled it just short of a length and outside off-stump and got some movement and Shaw played outside the line and it took the inside edge and knocked his timber.
Archer then embarked on the Assamese folk Bihu dance made famous by his teammate Riyan Parag, who hails from the North-East of India.
Archer and the Royals had a reason to dance some more after Ajinkya Rahane, unable to fire against his former employers, became his second victim.
Archer had two for five as the Delhi Capitals got 47 in the powerplay with left-hander Dhawan counter-attacking by striking four boundaries and a six in his 15-ball 30. Iyer was on 10 from 12 with a lone boundary.
Dhawan reached his fifty from 30 deliveries with the help of six boundaries and a six and smacked another one over the ropes off Gopal. But the leg spinner got his revenge immediately as Dhawan top edged his reverse sweep into the hands of Kartik Tyagi at short third man.
Dhawan and Iyer's partnership for the third wicket was worth 85 runs.
Iyer and Marcus Stoinis then came up with a 37-run stand for the fourth wicket with the skipper reaching his milestone with a six off Unadkat.
Ben Stokes had seemed to have pulled off one of those brilliant catches at the boundary line but his foot was grounded when he released the ball and took it on the second attempt.
The Delhi Capitals, who were 129-3 in 15 overs, got 32 runs in the last five overs.
Brief scores:
Delhi Capitals: 161-7 in 20 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 57, Shreyas Iyer 53, Jofra Archer 3-19, Jaydev Unadkat 2-32) vs Rajasthan Royals.
Teams:
Delhi Capitals: Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer (C), Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey(w), Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Tushar Deshpande, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje.
Rajasthan Royals: Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wk), Steven Smith (C), Sanju Samson, Robin Uthappa, Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Jofra Archer, Shreyas Gopal, Jaydev Unadkat, Kartik Tyagi.
james@khaleejtimes.com
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