Karun Nair's half century helps Rajasthan Royals to register an easy victory over Delhi Daredevils
Karun Nair scored half century to help Rajasthan Royal register victory over Delhi Daredevils (Photo: PTI)
New Delhi: Rajasthan Royals’s young brigade came out trumps, defeating Delhi Daredevils by seven wickets in their Indian Premier League Season Seven match here on Saturday night.
A total of 152 was always going to be a challenging one on the testing Kotla track, but the Royals batsman displayed calm heads and a methodical approach to cruise past the target in 18.3 overs.
Youngsters Karun Nair (73 not out, 50 balls, 8x4, 2x6) and Sanju Samson took it upon themselves after the early departure of the experienced Ajinkya Rahane (12). The two personified Rajasthan’s never-say-die spirit and their 51-run stand (off 43 balls) for the second wicket laid a solid foundation for Rajasthan’s win.
By the time Samson departed — clobbering the home bowlers in his well crafted 28-ball 34 — the visitors had smelled victory. The home bowlers were made to look ordinary as the 22-year-old Jodhpur born Nair, who had a successful domestic season with Karnataka, relied on technique and temperament coming up with all the answers on the day. He reached the 50-run mark in 41 balls, as home bowlers looked out of sorts.
It also said a lot to say about Kevin Pietersen’s captaincy, be it the field placing or the use of his bowlers. Royals skipper Shane Watson (16 not out) provided the finishing touches and Nair rightfully hit the winning shot, as Rajasthan registered their fourth win from six games. In the evening, it was an even battle between Rajasthan’s bowlers and the Delhi batsmen with both dominating by turns. Delhi, who began strongly, posted 152/5 after a late surge from J.P. Duminy and Kedhar Jadhav helped them notch up 58 runs in the last five overs.
Scorecard
Delhi Daredevils: Q de Kock c&b Tambe 42, M. Vijay c Watson b Faulkner 13, KP Pietersen c Smith b Tambe 14, KD Karthik c Binny b Faulkner 12, JP Duminy c Bhatia b Richardson 39, K. Jadhav (not out) 28, W. Parnell (not out) 0. Extras (lb 3, w 1) 4. Total (for five wickets in 20 overs) 152.
FoW: 1-33, 2-69, 3-71, 4-95, 5-141.
Bowling: Binny 1-0-9-0, Richardson 4-0-39-1, Kulkarni 3-0-18-0, Watson 1-0-11-0, Faulkner 4-0-26-2, Tambe 4-0-25-2, Bhatia 3-0-21-0.
Rajasthan Royals: A. Rahane c Vijay b Parnell 12, K. Nair (not out) 73, S. Samson st Karthik b Nadeem 34, R Bhatia b Mohammed Shami 17, S. Watson (not out) 16. Extras (w 3, lb 1) 4. Total ( for three wickets in 18.3 overs)156.
FoW: 1-20, 2-71, 3-115,
Bowling: S. Nadeem-4-0-30-1, M. Shami 4-0-22-1,W. Parnell 4-0-35-1, J. Unadkat 3.3-0-36-0, R .Sharma 3-0-32-0.
( Source : dc )
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