IPL 2019: Match 40, RR vs DC - Who Said What

It was a day for the two players who were criticised a lot for their recent performances in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Ajinkya Rahane slammed a 58-ball century in the first innings after the Delhi Capitals (DC) put the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in to bat first at the Sawai Mansingh stadium in Jaipur. However, it was Rishabh Pant who overshadowed his knock with a flamboyant 78* off just 36 balls to take his team to the top of the table.

Shikhar Dhawan began the chase with a blitzkrieg to score 54 off just 27 deliveries. The momentum got stuck a little bit for the visitors then as they lost their skipper Shreyas Iyer as well. Rishabh Pant then arrived to change the complexion of the game completely. He took his time early on to get settled and then went berserk to not spare any of the RR bowlers.

Prithvi Shaw struggled during his 42-run knock but stitched a crucial 84-run stand with Pant to keep the team in contention of a steep 192-run chase. Pant didn’t bother much of Shaw’s wicket and continued playing his shots which came off even on the big ground. Fittingly, he finished the game with a six in the final over off Jaydev Unadkat.

Rahane lights up Jaipur

Earlier, it was Ajinkya Rahane who took the onus upon himself for his team. After running out Sanju Samson for a diamond duck, Rahane played some classy textbook shots and was superbly supported by Steve Smith. The duo added a stunning 135 runs for the second wicket and at that stage, it looked like they would post a total in excess of 200.

However, the DC bowlers came back well at the death and despite Rahane scoring a century, controlled the situation to restrict RR to 191 runs for the loss of six wickets after 20 overs. The score didn’t prove to be enough eventually as the Royals are now left with an improbable situation like RCB to qualify for the playoffs.

Man of the Match, Rishabh Pant said:

 I am feeling lovely. To make your team win in an important match is a good feeling. I won’t lie, the selection thought was running in my mind. I focussed on my process, I trusted my prowess and it worked for me. I knew how wicket was behaving and I took advantage of that. The most important things for our team is that everyone needs their role and we try to keep it simple.

Delhi Capitals skipper, Shreyas Iyer said:

When we play away from home wickets are so good luckily and it is perfect for our batters. Skikhar is doing a great job in powerplay. We are unaware of how the wicket is going to play at our home and we are being outplayed at home.

Wicket was a belter and Rahane batted brilliantly. Our bowlers contained well to restrict Royals. Ricky tells us that batsman who get the start should bat for a long time. Rishabh finished brilliantly.

Rajasthan Royals skipper, Steve Smith said:

We thought we didn’t finish off well with the bat, they pulled things back with Rabada in the death overs. We couldn’t quite get hold of their bowlers. The wicket played well throughout, one of the best in the tournament.

They took our bowlers on in the powerplay and Shikhar played a magnificent knock. Pant is a young lad and he did a terrific job as well. We changed a few tactics, I didn’t want Gopal to bowl in the powerplay but decided to give him a bowl as the dew was setting in.

It’s always hard for the bowlers with the dew around. The wicket stayed the same throughout the 40 overs. You can try and get wickets with your best bowlers or keep them for the death overs. Delhi did that well with Rabada but for us Archer has bowled well for us throughout the tournament.

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