Ahmadabad: Rajasthan Royals hammered Delhi Daredevils by 62 runs to hand them their sixth consecutive defeat of the Indian Premier League at the Sardar Patel Stadium on Thursday.
Chasing Royals’ mammoth total of 201/6, Daredevils could only manage 139/9 off their 20 overs. With the win, the Royals consolidated their third position in the standings with 14 points.
The Royals got off to a fantastic start after being put in to bat thanks to Ajinkya Rahane’s knock of 64 off 50 deliveries. Though opener Karun Nair (19) got out early, Rahane was given good support by Kevon Cooper, who smashed a 16-ball 32.
After the West Indian Cooper got out, Rahane continued his onslaught until he was bowled by spinner Shahbaz Nadeem with the score at 167/3 in the 17th over.
The home team suffered a minor jolt as they lost all-rounder Stuart Binny (0) and Sanju Samson (40) in the space of two runs but James Faulkner provided an exciting cameo towards the end to take his team past 200. The Australian smashed three sixes in his 8-ball unbeaten knock of 23.
South African googly specialist Imran Tahir was the pick of the bowlers for the Delhi outfit with 2/25 from his four, slowing down the Royals’ run rate. Nadeem also clinched two while J.P. Duminy took a wicket at the start.
In reply, the Daredevils batting line-up never clicked as they started losing wickets right from the start. Only four batsmen — Kevin Pietersen (13), Mayank Agarwal (17), Manoj Tiwary (61 not out) and Rahul Shukla (14) — reached double figures.
Middle order batsman Tiwary waged a lone battle hitting two sixes and five fours in his 44-ball knock.
All seven Royals bowlers played their part well, sharing all the wickets among them with all-rounder Rajat Bhatia the only one to clinch two from his three overs.
