DC vs RR Highlights, IPL 2024: Sanju Samson’s 86 in vain as Delhi best Rajasthan by 20 runs

Rishabh Pant, DC skipper: The way our bowlers executed at the back end was the main positive and it was really good to see. We will try to learn from every game. Even when we lose or win, we will keep our head down and keep moving forward. As always Kuldeep delivered which was great to see. It was close to par and at the same time we were thinking that if we can restrict them to 200 that would be fair and that was the thought process.

Sanju Samson, RR skipper: We had it in our hands, it was 10-11 rpo which was achievable but these things happen in the IPL. (Toss) I think we're doing both things fine, we want to stick to what works in the conditions. 220 was 10 too much, DC batted really well. Their opener started well, Ashwin got him out. I felt we gave away too much at the death. We have lost 3 games but all have been tight. We need to keep the fine tuning, this tournament doesn't allow us to relax. (On their death bowling) We have to give credit to Stubbs for how he hit Sandeep, who has been our best.

Mukesh Kumar to bowl the last over for DC. Trent Boult on strike. Just the single off the first ball. Brings back Rovman Powell on strike. It has to be him if RR are to take two points from tonight. It isn't as Mukesh cleans up Powell off the very next delivery. That has to be it. The final nail in the coffin for Rajasthan.

Avesh Khan is the new man in. He gets a couple off the next ball. It's 26 needed off the last three. Three legitimate deliveries and that's it. A four off the next one. Doesn't matter now. DC will be happy with the two points, it sets them up nicely in the playoffs race. And a win it is. By 20 runs. RR fail to topple KKR at the top of the table. For DC, a crucial victory at home.

Rasikh Dar Salam into his third over. Rovman Powell muscles a low full toss over the long on fence for SIX. It's a big one - 97m. But that's it. A fine over from the youngster, concedes only eight. It's 29 needed off the last over.

Kuldeep Yadav in to bowl the 18th over. First ball, pinned on the pads, it seems to have got Donovan Ferreira good but the umpire isn't convinced. Delhi go upstairs. Pitching in line, impact in line, leg stump hit and it's a sixth wicket for DC. A superb over from the wrist spinner. Closes it with the wicket of Ravichandran Ashwin off the last ball. Holed at long on. Two wickets and just the four runs conceded. 185/7 after 18 overs.

Khaleel Ahmed to close his quota for tonight. His last over had costed 11 runs - four wides conceded. This time, Shubham Dubey starts it off with consecutive boundaries. A slot ball slogged over long off for SIX. Followed by a pull shot for four. But it's the left-armer who has the last laugh. Another pull shot attempted off a pace on delivery and this time, Dubey induces a top edge and and is holed in the deep. A fifth wicket falls for RR.

Mukesh Kumar back into the attack. He has three left in his quota. And he may have tilted this game in the home team's favor enormously with just the one delivery. A slower length ball outside the off stump and Samson has got a hold of it and Shai Hope at the boundary takes the catch. He was extremely close to the boundary rope so this will be checked upstairs. Big call this in context of the game. And it's given out. Samson is unhappy with that one. He reckoned that Hope had touched the ropes. The commentators are unsure. And Rajasthan will have to take this one on the chin. The catch was taken extremely close to the rope. The over ends with Rovman Powell claiming a boundary followed by four byes. 170/4 after 16 overs.

Khaleel Ahmed to bowl the 15th. Samson starts it by directing a wide, full delivery down deep backward point for four. 50 run partnership between the skipper and Shubham Dubey. But that's not what tells us which team is in control of this and which isn't.

Four consecutive wides in the over. Khaleel looking to pitch it as far away from the RR captain as possible but it's straying too far down the off side. Finally beats the streak with a short delivery outside the off stump and Samson misses on the pull. Bit of a stare from the DC pacer. Another dot ball follows. The last one is similar to the fourth delivery and this time, Samson gets an outside edge to it but it falls safe down the wide long off fence. Quite the over this: 4,1,1,wd,wd,wd,wd,0,0,1.

Ishant Sharma back into the attack. Dishes in a slower one - at 112KPH - and Samson clobbers it over the extra cover region for four. Went over Axar Patel, who leaped above in attempt to stop it, so you can be rest assured that none of the other fielders - maybe Ishant - had a chance at stopping that. 

Shubham Dubey then swings hard at a delivery straying down the leg to collect four runs down the fine leg boundary. The southpaw closes the over with a mighty maximum down the ground. He really got a hold of that length ball. Healthy pickings for RR from the over. 148/3 after 14. 74 runs needed off the last six overs.

Rasikh Dar Salam into his third over. And Sanju Samson takes him to the cleaners. 16 off the first three deliveries. Picks up the slower delivery with a mighty slog over long on. Then, a thick edge induced off a length ball that runs down short third for four followed by another display of brute strength from the skipper - this time dispatching a maximum over long off. Fine comeback from the bowler to only concede two runs off his last three balls. 131/3 after 13 overs.

Tushar Bhaduri: The most relieved man at the Kotla when the ball made contact with Jos Buttler's leg-stump, via an inside edge, would have been Tristan Stubbs. The South African had dropped a skier offered by the England captain off Mukesh Kumar's first delivery on the night and Buttler has a habit of punishing such errors. He had already hit two centuries this season, and Delhi Capitals would have been desperate to see his back. Buttler had only hit one four till then but after the reprieve, hit a boundary and a six in Axar Patel's firsy over, still inside the Powerplay. But the fifth ball of the sixth over brought great joy for the hosts, who were playing to keep their inconsistent campaign relevant. Axar continued to be reliable and hold his own against the biggest hitters in the game.

While the skipper is still in, so are Rajasthan. A six smoked over long on and Sanju Samson brings up his fifth half-century of the season. Gets to it off 28 deliveries. Can he see this all the way through? Kuldeep Yadav's third over costs 10 runs. Rajasthan are 113/3 after 12 overs.

Rasikh Dar Salam with the breakthrough for Delhi. Riyan Parag has been on the offensive. Another six for him. Gets to 27 off 22 deliveries before a back of a hand slower one undoes him. A timely dismissal for the Delhi Capitals. 100 up for the visitors. After 11 overs, the score reads, 103/3.

Parag is back in his element and he lets Axar and the fielders know it with a daring reverse-sweep over short-third for FOUR. One risky stroke foiled by a slew of singles seems to be the mantra for the RR batters for now. RR 93/2 after 10 overs

Kuldeep forces Parag deep into the crease as he drifts a couple of loopy deliveries past him. Parag breaks the rut with a single and Samson drives another to long-on for one run. Parag, though, cannot be kept quiet for too long as he smokes the last delivery over extra cover for an exquisite SIX! RR 86/2 after 9 overs

Axar attemps to wield control over the batters with his probing lengths but Parag disrupts the plans with a powerful slog over long-off for SIX. Eight from the over. RR 78/2 after 8 overs

Pant calls in Kuldeep immediately after the power. Impressive lengths firs up from the left-armer as Samson continues to attack proactively. Just the three runs come from the over with Parag and Samson failing to pick the gaps. RR 70/2 after 8 overs

Axar Patel is into the attack and Buttler greets him with a slap over extra cover first ball for FOUR. Axar pitches up this time and Buttler fails to nudge the ball past cover. Axar wafts one towards the pads and Buttler nimbly lofts it over mid-on for FOUR. Axar strikes this time as Buttler drags a fuller ball from outside off back to the stumps. The feet stood rooted to the crease as the ball struck the bottom of the bat. RR 67/2 after 6 overs.

The spinner going to the T20 World Cup had a forgettable outing, while the one considered surplus to requirement proved that he always makes a difference, regardless of the format. Yuzvendra Chahal is one among the four tweakers selected in the Indian squad, but figures of 1/48 in four overs don't make for good reading, regardless of the flat wicket, small ground and the devil-may-care attitude of batsmen this IPL. His spell began and ended with sixes, but despite the flurry of boundaries, there was a period when he kept the batsmen's intentions in check. Chahal got the key wicket of Rishabh Pant and it was only in his final over, the 18th of the innings, that Gulbadin Naib and Tristan Stubbs combined to hit  him for 21 runs, the South African hitting him for two fours and a six in four balls. Ravichandran Ashwin, on the other hand, was one bowler who kept the batsmen honest while the others went on a leather hunt. He got the unstoppable Jake Fraser-McGurk as well as left-handers Abishek Porel and Axar Patel, going for only 24 in four overs and conceding only one boundary in his spell.

Mukesh Kumar enters into the attack and instantly finds the miscue from Buttler. He mistimes the slog and sends it straight up and Stubbs, running in from cover, drops a straightforward chance. How costly can that prove to be? Samson is on song at the other end anyway. Mukesh lands another one in the slot and Samson biffs it over long-on for a SIX. Mukesh attempts to go short onto the hips and Samson swats it through square-leg for FOUR. Low full-toss and Samson leans forward to punch it past mid-on for another FOUR! 57/1 after five overs.

Ishant offers a touch of width and Samson slaps it through point for another FOUR. Ishant follows up with a sharper delivery to beat the outside-edge as Samson attempts to work it down third. Ishan then sends one down leg and Samson slides it down leg for another FOUR. Length on offer again and Samson biffs it over long-on for another SIX!

Samson opens up after a watchful start. Khaleel pitches one into the slot and Samson pumps it over long-on for a SIX. Khaleel shapes one from the turf and Samson eases into a smooth backfoot punch through cover for FOUR. 27/1 after three overs

Ishant Sharma, who marked his return from injury in this game, steams in from the other end. A fine start from the Delhi pacer, just the two runs off his first over. Jos Buttler is sure in no hurry as of now. 9/1 after two overs.

Khaleel Ahmed with the new ball. Yashasvi Jaiswal gets off the makr with a first ball boundary down mid on for four. And off the very next delivery, DC's most successful bowler in the powerplay this season strikes!

Back of a length delivery, caught by Axar Patel at mid off. RR go one down in the first over.

Sandeep Sharma to bowl the last over. Tristan Stubbs on the strike. A low full toss to start the over and it's dispatched over extra cover for SIX! Then, a shortish delivery from Sandeep and it's flat batted for a second maximum in a row. The third time's the charm though. A fullish delivery that traps the Proteas plumb. First wicket of the night for Sandeep. 

Kuldeep Yadav is the new man in. And he's got off to a confident start. Moves outside the off stump off a back of a length delivery and flicks it down backward square for four. A single to close the over and the innings. 221/8 is what Delhi have got on the board.

Tristan Stubbs picks a slower short ball from Trent Boult, pulls it through mid-wicket for four. But it ultimately does the trick against the other Delhi batter in the middle - Gulbadin Naib. A sixth wicket falls. 

Rasikh Dar Salam is the Impact Player introduced. Can be handy with the bat too and he finds a couple of boundaries to bring up the 200.

Yuzvendra Chahal into his last over. And it's just the one DC needed. Starts off with a four off a back of a length delivery from Gulbadin Naib down long on. Tristan Stubbs takes over. A reverse hit and a sweep shot for consecutive fours before a slog sweep is nailed to perfection to close the over with a SIX! 21 runs from the over. DC are 189/5 after 18 overs.

Did we speak too soon? This is Sandeep Sharma's territory after all. RR's designated death overs bowler gets the better of Tristan Stubbs and Gulbadin Naib in his latest over, mixing his pace with lengths. He's one of the bowlers who have maximised the two-short ball rule to its fullest potential. Just the four runs from the 17th over. Delhi Capitals are 168/5.

Yuzvendra Chahal into his third over. Gulbadin Naib muscles the leggie off his first delivery, slot ball smoked over long-on for SIX! That was hit with brute strength and it got the desired result. Good comeback from Chahal though, gives away only one off the next five deliveries. Delhi still, well, on the course for a 200 plus total. 164/5 after 16 overs.

Ravichandran Ashwin to close his spell. In the middle for the Capitals are Tristan Stubbs and Gulbadin Naib - both with abundant skill to clear the fence. The offie though has been on top of his game tonight. He has been on the radar of the critics this season, closing it on a high with RR very much likely to feature among the top two could be quite the statement and RR would take him peaking at the right time. Just the five runs off his last over. Finishes with bowling figures of 4-0-24-3. DC are 156/5 after 15 overs.

Yuzvendra Chahal to Rishabh Pant. A fullish delivery and the DC skipper looks to clear the deep square leg fence but there isn't enough pace or room for execution and it sails straight to the fielder at the boundary, Trent Boult. A fourth wicket for the Rajasthan Royals and a historic one for Yuzvendra Chahal - his 350th in T20 cricket. Becomes the first Indian bowler to do so. 150 up for Delhi but they've lost five wickets in doing so with six overs still left to be played.

Abhishek Porel's stay in the middle comes to an end. Another lofted drive attempted through covers, catches an outside edge and Sandeep Sharma takes the catch inside the circle. A third wicket for Ravichandran Ashwin. DC are 146/4 after 13 overs.

Avesh Khan into his second over. He's been expensive tonight. 28 of his first over as Jake Fraser-McGurk dug into his attacking best. This time, it's Porel who rips into him. A fine pull shot over the mid-wicket region for SIX. And a low full-toss driven past covers for four. Fifty for Porel - his first of the season. 42 from his two overs now. 129/3 after 11 overs.

Delhi are budging from going for the boundaries, and while the runs are coming at a brisk rate, Rajasthan are finding the wickets as a result. Ashwin gets his second. 

Axar tries to loft a delivery outside the off stump but ends up finding Riyan Parag. A third wicket down for the hosts. 115/3 after 10 overs.

Riyan Parag continues from the other end. 100 up for the Capitals in the ninth over. Ravi Shastri reckons 200 shouldn't be a big ask for this Delhi lineup. 

Can Rajasthan turn the tide? Parag has been considerably economical off his two overs but his figures are spoiled off the last delivery of the over as Axar gets underneath a straightish delivery to find his first maximum. 

Yuzi Chahal brought into fray. Abhishek welcomes him with a meaty hit. Flighted delivery, on the stumps, and the southpaw advances down and latches onto it with a whip to clear the deep mid-wicket france for SIX!

Closes the over with a sweep shot down backward square leg for four. He moves to 40. 98/2 after eight overs.

Delhi would feel undone with a bit of a bad luck in the powerplay. The fall of Jake Fraser-McGurk, in the form that he has been, came at a full toss. Shai Hope was run out in the most freakish of ways. But they've found a bit of luck in this over. Riyan Parag to roll his arms. Abhishek Porel goes for a slog-sweep but instead, gets a top-edge that falls safe and runs down short third for four. Off the next delivery, gets another leading edge but is lucky again that it doesn't carry to the fielder at backward point. DC, 84/2 after seven overs.

It doesn't happen every day but it's happened tonight for Shai Hope. Just as Sandeep Sharma delivered the first ball of his second over, the southpaw was well outside his crease. Abhishek Porel's straight drive catches a deflection off Sandeep Sharma's fingers and hits the stumps at the non-striker's end. A second wicket for the visitors in the powerplay. 

Porel gets a boundary off the very next delivery, a slog over mid on for four. Axar Patel gets off the mark with a four as well. End of the powerplay: DC are 78/2.

Tushar Bhaduri: Jake Fraser-McGurk has inflicted a lot of pain on bowlers in his yet-short IPL stint, but the young Australian felt some himself in the opening over against Rajasthan Royals. Trent Boult is often deadly in his opening spell from over the wicket, but had done his homework before the game against Delhi Capitals. The Kiwi left-arm pacer came round the wicket, denying Jake room to have a free swing of the arms. And the fourth ball beat an attempted pull to hit him in the groin, as the batsman hit the turf for the count. It was a long time before he returned to his feet, not before being attended to for a long time by the team physio. All this while, Boult was waiting impatiently at the top of his run-up. But when he took strike next, Fraser smashed the Kiwi veteran over mid-off for a four to show that he was up for the fight. He then went on to give another turbo-charged start to Delhi Capitals, smashing Avesh Khan in particular, to reach 50 in just 19 balls inside four overs.

Rajasthan looked in deep trouble and the skipper moved to Ravichandran Ashwin, who gets them the big wicket, and how! A high full toss from the off spinner and Jake Fraser-McGurk slices it straight to the fielder. A shake of the head from the 22-year-old, who'd been extremely disappointed at giving away his wicket in that fashion.

Delhi lose their first man. Abhishek Porel nabs his first maximum of the evening, tracks back into his crease and pulls one over deep mid wicket for SIX. Nine runs from the over. DC are 68/1.

Avesh Khan replaces Sandeep Sharma from the other end, but the boundaries keep on coming. No half measures from Jake Fraser-McGurk. Starts off the over with three fours in a row. First, an inside edge that beats Sanju Samson, who dives to his left, behind the stumps on its way down to fine leg for four. The next ball is crisped through covers for four. Then, a slice over backward point for four. But that's not it for the over. A 25th six of the season for the Aussie, pumped over mid off. The execution from the 22-year-old is on another level. And he closes the over keeping the boundary streak intact, another four and six. 

Fifty for Jake Fraser-McGurk off just 19 balls. David Warner is on his feet in the dressing room. Delhi are 59/0 after four overs.

Boult continues and this time, Fraser-McGurk puts the left-armer on the backfoot from the beginning. Front leg cleared to dispatch the first SIX of the game. Length ball, pumped down the ground and it hits the sightscreen. 

Boult goes shorter the next delivery, angling the ball away from the right-hander this time and it catches an outside edge to run down short third for four. There's another short delivery, this time angled into the Aussie, which is cleared over extra cover for four. It was Boult who'd started off as the one in command in the first over against DC's player of the season but he's turned the tide in the second over. 15 from the over, a good one for the home side. 31/0 after three.

Sandeep Sharma has the ball from other end. Abhishek Porel comes on strike. The southpaw gets his first boundary of the evening. Chips a length delivery over the bowler's head for four. The wicketkeeper has come up, giving away hint of the length that's on offer. 

Porel closes the over with another boundary. A straight drive that beats a diving mid off for FOUR more. 16/0 after two overs.

Fraser-McGurk off the mark straightaway, leading edge comes off of an attempted flick shot, a couple of runs for the Aussie. He's missed out on middling thrice off the first four deliveries. The latest of it has got him right in the mid-section. Those definitely hurt and the 22-year-old has gone down and the DC physio Patrick Farhart comes running in onto the pitch. That one swung more than he'd anticipated. Good comeback from the Aussie off the very next delivery. Again, swung into the right-hander, and this time, he makes the room outside the leg stump and lofts it over mid off for four. 6/0 after the first over.

An exquisite fixture at our hands. The team batting first has had the rub of the green so far at the Arun Jaitley Stadium this season. While Delhi have the honors of doing so tonight, it's Rajasthan Royals who put them in to bat first. Sanju Samson and Co have been near flawless this season with just two losses from 10 fixtures. Can they get the better of the home side tonight? Brilliant matchups in the offering starting with one of the finds of the season Jake Fraser-McGurk walking in the middle to take on Trent Boult.

Rishabh Pant: Pitches this season are more batting friendly. Some injuries, health issues are there in our team but we don't want focus on those things and we got to focus on the matches and do our best. Ishant and Gulbadin come in.

Sanju Samson: We would like to bowl first, looks a good a wicket to chase on. We are comfortable doing both. The environment in the team is what pleases me, we have great characters, of course winning helps. Dhruv and Hetmyer are unavailable. Shubham Dubey and Donovan Ferreira are in.

Delhi Capitals: Rasikh Dar Salam, Praveen Dubey, Lalit Yadav, Sumit Kumar, Kumar Kushagra

Rajasthan Royals: Jos Buttler, Kuldeep Sen, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Tanush Kotian, Kunal Singh Rathore

Delhi Capitals: Jake Fraser-McGurk, Abishek Porel, Shai Hope, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Tristan Stubbs, Gulbadin Naib, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mukesh Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Khaleel Ahmed

Rajasthan Royals: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson(w/c), Riyan Parag, Donovan Ferreira, Rovman Powell, Shubham Dubey, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Sharma, Yuzvendra Chahal

Sanju Samson wins the toss, Rajasthan opt to bowl first.

Rovman Powell: I think it’s the communication between the captain, coaches and players. Communication goes a far way, communication brings clarity throughout the group and I think that has been a driving force in our success so far. As a batter, you get excited but the important thing is when you get to bat, you do the basic things right. I think it was a simple one to reflect, fortunately I was there at the last, I just missed a full toss in close games like that, you can’t overthink, Bhuvi bowled a great over. Hopefully, the next time I’m out there, I can take my team over the line. There is a bit to prove but it is nothing personal, I’m here to do a job for Rajasthan and I will do that. One thing I like in this team is the way they plan, we as West Indian if we can plan like that, can go into the specific details, that is something that I am looking to take from a personal standpoint and see how can I rub it onto my fellow West Indians.

The Mumbai Indians rose from the bottom of the IPL 2024 points table after their fourth win of the season as they beat the Sunrisers Hyderabad by seven wickets on Monday.

MI now sit ninth in the table, while Gujarat Titans are at 10th. SRH remain fourth, despite their fifth loss of the season.

On Sunday, Kolkata Knight Riders demolished the Lucknow Super Giants by 98 runs and toppled the Rajasthan Royals from the top of the table to take the lead. (MORE HERE)

Delhi Capitals: David Warner, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Abhishek Porel, Rishabh Pant (C, wk), Tristan Stubbs, Shai Hope, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Khaleel Ahmed, Ishant Sharma, Mukesh Yadav

Impact Player: Rasikh Dar Salam

Rajasthan Royals: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson (c, wk), Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell, R Ashwin, Trent Boult, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Sharma

Impact player: Yuzvendra Chahal

Matches: 28

Delhi Capitals: 13

Rajasthan Royals: 15

It's quite the stat and is telling of the season Australia's Jake Fraser-McGurk has had - his first in the IPL. A staggering 88.8% of the runs in IPL 2024 have come in boundaries. 

Jake explained his gameplan at the mid-innings break after his 27-ball 84 against Mumbai Indians last month. “My role is to go out there and score as many as possible in the first six. If I go on, I go on. If I get ones and twos, it’s either because I’ve mishit it or maybe it’s the last ball of the over,” he told the broadcasters.

His childhood coach Shannon Young opens up on the talent that Fraser-McGurk has. (READ HERE)

DC: Rishabh Pant’s road to recovery from a horrific accident has been a remarkable one. However, what is even more of a pleasant surprise has been how quickly he has been able to get back to his batting best. With the qualification on line, the onus and spotlight will be once again DC skipper to produce the goods with the bat and as a captain on the field.

RR: After a poor first half of the tournament Yashasvi Jaiswal has hit form the tournament. If Rajasthan has to win their second trophy they need their young Indian left-hander to continue to contribute in the remainder of the season. Coming on back off a blistering half-century in previous game against SRH Jaiswal would be looking to make another score of substance.

The pitch this year in the Capital has been a flatter one and with the small dimensions the scores have been high this season. However, the wicket has gone progressively slower in the second innings if the dew has not set in considerablly. It will be tough call at the toss for captain to decide what they want to do.

At the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur for the reverse fixture, Rajasthan Royals inched past the Rishabh Pant-led side by 13 runs after Riyan Parag flexed his muscles in his new role as a number four, Nandre Burger snapped a couple of big wickets up front and Avesh Khan closed the defence by conceding only four runs when 17 were required from the last over. (HERE's the recap of the game)

At the core of the team picked for World T20 are seniors with no ICC titles. Kohli has won the 50-overs title in 2011 but he isn’t a T20 World Champion. If India’s Cuplessness continues, for a generation that aren’t T20 natives, this would be the third successive failure.

There are already whispers that India hasn’t quite kept pace with the format where batsmen aspire to have a 200-strike rate. Questions are already being asked from the commentators box. Irfan Pathan can’t understand Hardik Pandya’s inclusion, Krishnamachari Srikkanth is puzzled by Rinku Singh’s exclusion. (READ Sandeep Dwivedi's column here)

‘I had to detach part of my personality that was only happy with success in cricket’

In an exclusive interview with Sriram Veera & Sandeep Dwivedi, days before he was left out of the Indian squad for the T20 World Cup, Shubman Gill shares how he deals with success and failure. From the child prodigy who never failed, he is now a seasoned star at peace with the game’s inglorious uncertainties. (READ HERE)