IPL 2023: Rajasthan Royals top table after 57-run win over Delhi Capitals

Rajasthan Royals (RR) moved to the top of the IPL 2023 table with a comfortable 57-run victory over Delhi Capitals (DC) in Guwahati on Saturday evening (April 8).

After posting 199/4 in 20 overs, RR restricted DC to 142/9 to register their second win out of three matches.

DC never looked like chasing the big target after being reduced to 36/3 in 5.4 overs. Paceman Trent Boult and Yuzvendra Chahal took three wickets each to derail DC’s run chase. Captain David Warner top-scored with 65.

Also read: IPL 2023 full schedule, match times, venues

Delhi have now lost all their three matches and are ninth in the IPL 2023 table.

Earlier, Yashasvi Jaiswal reaffirmed his status as the brightest talent among India’s gen-next batters with a superb 60 while Jos Buttler showed no signs of finger pain en route a chiselled 79 in RR’s challenging 199 for four.

Jaiswal hammered a hapless Khaleel Ahmed (0/31 in 2 overs) into submission by crunching five boundaries in the opening over, his 31-ball innings laying the foundation before Buttler finished with flourish. The English swashbuckler faced 51 balls.

Also read: IPL 2023: How delayed finishes have become an unedifying spectacle for cricket fans

The fate of DC bowlers could have been sealed in first six overs, which yielded 68 runs along with 14 boundaries, but Kuldeep Yadav (1/31 in 4 overs), Mukesh Kumar (2/36 in 4 overs) and Rovman Powell (1/18 in 2 overs) did well to control the damage to some extent at the back-end.

The total on this track would be considered a par score taking the pitch into account as 220 looked possible during the first 10 overs.

Khaleel literally lost both line and length and looked bruised as Jaiswal inflicted one humiliation after another on him during those couple of overs. Khaleel, in his career, has never had three consistent games on the trot and Saturday was another such day.

Anrich Nortje (0/44 in 4 overs), DC’s big bowling hope seemed to have had too much on his plate, as the onslaught at the other end did affect him as he also went for a flurry of boundaries, including one over the bowler’s head.

Such was Warner’s helplessness that he had to ignore that Axar Patel’s (0/38 in 4 overs) match-up against left-handers isn’t great, and he was promptly smashed for three boundaries in his very first over.

The 50 came in the fourth over and 100 in the 10th even as Jaiswal completed a 25-ball half-century, his fifth over three editions of the tournament.

Seeing Axar’s plight, his spin twin Kuldeep, also started bowling quick and flat which resulted in half-trackers, which were promptly punished.

It was Mukesh Kumar, who finally induced a mistimed pull from Jaiswal which ballooned up and resulted in an easy return catch.

The confidence of Mukesh rubbed off on Kuldeep, who in his second over started giving the ball more air and floated one out of Sanju Samson’s (0) hitting radar. Samson’s ugly heave was taken by Nortje at long-on.

Riyan Parag (7) had another failure, this time castled by Powell but Buttler after a quiet period in the middle overs conjured a 49-run stand with Shimton Hetmyer (39 not out off 21 balls) to take his team to a par score.

First win of the season at home 🙌🏻@rajasthanroyals register a comprehensive 57-run victory in Guwahati 👏🏻👏🏻

Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/FLjLINwRJC#TATAIPL | #RRvDC pic.twitter.com/BBxb8g94TF

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 8, 2023

(With agency inputs)