Press Trust of India
New Delhi, April 12 : Young Deepak Hooda (54, 25b, 3×4, 4×6) struck a belligerent half-century to lead Rajasthan Royals (RR) to a thrilling three-wicket win over Delhi Daredevils (DD) as the hosts suffered their 11th straight defeat in the IPL, here Sunday.
Chasing a challenging target of 185 for a win, Rajsthan started calmly with opener Ajinkya Rahane (47, 39b, 2×4, 3×6) playing some fine shots. But it was Angelo Mathews who drew the first blood by scalping Sanju Samson (11). Amit Mishra was introduced into the attack and the leg-spinner struck right away to send stand-in-skipper Steven Smith (11) back in the dug-out with a googly. Karun Nair (20) tried to take the attack to the opposition with a few boundaries but Mishra was relentless as he dismissed Nair in his second over.
When the asking rate touched 12 per-over, Hooda once again came to rescue the Royals. He punished Angelo Mathews and took 19 runs off his over. However, had Manoj Tiwary not dropped his catch at mid wicket, it would be an easy win for the Daredevils. The rest was done by Chris Morris and Tim Southee who took 12 runs from the last over to deny the Delhi side their first home win. Even Imran Tahir’s (4/28) best spell in IPL was not enough.
Earlier put into bat, Delhi’s opening duo Mayank Agarwal and Shreyas Iyer started going after the Royals’ bowling. Skipper Jean-Paul Duminy (44 n o, 38b, 3×6) and Yuvraj Singh (27, 14b, 3×4, 1×6) then stitched a 45-run third wicket stand to give some muscle to the scoreline. After Yuvi’s departure, Duminy was then joined in by Angelo Mathews (27 not out) and the Sri Lankan captain showed his worth right away by hitting two fours and a six off James Faulkner (0-55) in the very next over.
