Aussie speedster Mitchell Starc nails his yorkers to bamboozle RR chase as DC return to the top of the points table with first win on their ‘real’ home turf. After a see-sawing 40-over skirmish highlighted by Mitchell Starc’s yorkers, Delhi Capitals pipped Rajasthan Royals in a Super Over at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.
Despite losing skipper Sanju Samson to an injury early during the 189-run chase, Rajasthan Royals maintained their grip on proceedings almost till the end. It took the whole roster, from Yashasvi Jaiswal to Nitish Rana and finishers Shimron Hetmyer and Dhruv Jurel, to take the game deep. But when left-arm speedster Mitchell Starc decided to roll up his sleeves with his famed yorker assortment, the league reconnected with the Super Over madness for the first time in four years.
Even the nerves of the tie-breaker didn’t hamper Mitchell Starc’s irresistible accuracy, forcing the Hetmyer-Jaiswal-Riyan Parag trio to run hard between wickets, turning desperation into two run-outs with a ball to spare.
Mitchell Starc’s accurate nailing of yorkers seals the match and deal for DC
Toss presenter Kartik Murali cross-checked Samson’s decision to field first on Wednesday with a touch of apprehension. Samson overlooked the six-game record at the Arun Jaitley Stadium since last season, when the team batting first had emerged victorious every time.
A slightly paler Kotla track aided Samson’s 150-115 kph combo of Jofra Archer and Sandeep Sharma initially until all the hard work was undone, taking Capitals to a defendable total. Despite Tushar Deshpande’s 23-run second over against Abhishek Porel, Archer and Sandeep returned with a fine concoction of back-of-length and stump-to-stump bowling to arrest the hosts’ early procession.
No. 4 KL Rahul would come up with a perfect illustration of the shot that Fraser-McGurk could not ace against Archer earlier on. Shortly after Sandeep nailed in loopy deliveries in the block-hole to close the Powerplay at 46/2, Rahul broke the shackles with an audacious six off Deshpande over long-off in the seventh over.
Pairing up with the set Porel, Rahul’s aggressive ploy was curbed as spinners Maheesh Theekshana and Wanindu Hasaranga hit their lines in the channel. With the Royals getting through their overs quickly, Rahul’s manufactured pull to mid-wicket was nipped by Archer’s nagging back-of-length delivery before Porel holed out to the deep in the following over.
Emerging from the shed at No. 6, it was up to captain Axar Patel to restore the momentum. A five-ball sighter was enough before he unleashed his swipes across the square, raking six boundaries in eight balls of Theekshana and Hasaranga. His 14-ball 34 injection was followed by Stubbs and Ashutosh Sharma ransacking 35 runs as Archer and Sandeep erred at the endgame.
Archer’s extra speed was used against him shrewdly with a slew of innovative strokes behind the wicketkeeper for three fours. However, it was Sandeep’s seemingly-endless 20th over that provided the crucial kick. Conceding only 14 in his previous three without a boundary, the seamer’s attempted deliveries targeting the off-stump wide line went awry one after another.
After six attempts to land a legal delivery on the back of five wides and a no-ball, Sandeep copped a four and a six before regaining his length to finish an 11-ball over.
With another tall chase cast before them, Jaiswal and Samson hit overdrive from the second over with a six each. Jaiswal’s brutal takedown of Mitchell Starc, highlighted by a scorching pick-up pull over backward square, brought back memories of the banter between them during the last Border-Gavaskar Trophy series
Despite Samson retiring hurt with a rib injury after powering Rajasthan past 60 within the Powerplay, Jaiswal ensured the equation remained in the Royals’ favour. After Axar castled Riyan Parag, Jaiswal shared some of his belligerent energies with Nitish Rana, who would prove decisive in neutralising Delhi’s Axar-Kuldeep Yadav combine. Collecting five boundaries off the pair in overs 15 and 16, Rana cruised to his second fifty of the season before falling to Starc’s yorker trap.
The neck-and-neck tussle whittled down to the wire with Dhruv Jurel and Shimron Hetmyer teasing the boundary men and the ring with a streaky six and scampers in Mohit Sharma’s 19th over, tallying 14.’With nine to defend in the 20th, Mitchell Starc brought on all the yesteryear heft of dominating the blockhole, limiting the opposition to eight runs to enforce more drama to a long Delhi evening.
Mitchell Starc is one of the best guys around in world- Sanju Samson
Rajasthan Royals (RR) captain Sanju Samson admitted being undone by the genius of Delhi Capitals (DC) speedster Mitchell Starc following their loss in the super over on Wednesday, April 16 at Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi. Starc bowled a phenomenal last over for Delhi as Rajasthan required nine runs to win. However, the veteran seamer used all his experience bowling against Shimron Hetmyer and Dhruv Jurel as he managed to take the game into a super over, giving away just eight runs.
The left-arm seamer finished the match with figures of 1/36 in four overs. Starc once again came on to bowl the super over and gave away 11 runs against Hetmyer and Riyan Parag. In the end, DC managed to successfully chased down the target in four balls and registered their fourth win of the season. Following his team’s loss, Samson was left in awe of Starc and admitted that it was his genius that took the game away from them.
“I think as we all saw some fantastic bowling by Starcy. He is one of the best guys around in the world. I would like to give it to Starcy. He won them the game in the 20th over. Plan was to swing hard. Starcy took it away. A win today could have created some positivity in the dressing room,” said Samson in his post-match chat.
Furthermore, Samson gave an update on his injury and revealed that he was alright and didn’t feel ready to come out to bat again. The RR skipper got retired hurt the on 31 (19) as Rajasthan tied with Delhi’s first innings score of 188.
“It feels alright. I wasn’t just ready to come back and bat. It feels alright now. We will observe it tomorrow and see how it is. We bowled really well. There were phases when they came hard at us. I would like to give credit to our bowlers and fielders. The energy on the ground was fantastic. I thought that score was chaseable given the batting line up which we had. The start which we got in the PP. I felt it was definitely a chaseable score,” he added.
Meanwhile, following their loss, Rajasthan have slipped to eighth spot on points table with two wins from seven matches having four points to their name. On the other hand, Delhi Capitals (DC) climbed to the top of the table with five wins from six matches, having ten points to their name.