Dubai: The Delhi Capitals will need to shrug off their recent loss to the Mumbai Indians - as well as the loss of senior paceman Ishant Sharma due to injury -as they take on Rajasthan Royals in their Indian Premier League (IPL) tie at the Dubai International Stadium on Wednesday.
Sharma, who has played 97 Tests and 80 One-day Internationals, is the second blow for the Shreyas Iyer-led Delhi, who lost leg-spinner Amit Mishra to a finger injury last week.
Delhi were displaced by Rohit Sharma’s men as the Mumbai Indians won with two balls to spare in their top-of-the table clash last Sunday. Till then, the Shreyas Iyer-led Capitals had climbed their way through the standings with four successive wins. Their last win was simply an allround performance as they swept aside Steve Smith’s Rajasthan Royals by 46 runs at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium last Friday.
The win came against all odd as Delhi made a poor start after losing their first three wickets - Prithvi Shaw (19), Shikhar Dhawan (5) and skipper Iyer (22) - inside the powerplay overs. Marcus Stoinis then smashed a crucial 30-ball 39 runs before Shimron Hetmyer notched up a 24-ball 45 to help the Capitals post a competitive 184 for eight in their stipulated 20 overs.
Now that we have found a way to win, I hope we can keep this rhythm and achieve the goals set before us by the team management
Their bowlers once again shone through as Kagiso Rabada bagged three wickets, while Man of the Match Ravichandran Ashwin and Marcus Stoinis claimed two wickets each to help Delhi bundle out Rajasthan for 138 runs with two balls left.
Royals, meanwhile, proved they are no pushovers as they defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad by five wickets in Dubai last Sunday.
After opting to bat, Manish Pandey made 54 while skipper David Warner scored 48 to guide SRH to 158 for 4, a target which Royals chased down with a ball to spare as Rahul Tewatia once again came in handy with a well-struck unbeaten 45 runs off 28 balls.
“I think we took our time to reap the fruits of all the hard work that we’ve put in over the past few weeks. Now that we have found a way to win, I hope we can keep this rhythm and achieve the goals set before us by the team management,” Tewatia told the team’s social media platform.
Needing 75 runs in their final seven overs, Tewatia and Riyan Parag kept their composure to get the side over the line with just one ball to spare and break the losing streak for Steve Smith’s men. “We do have a strong top order, but they cannot be expected to come strong all the time. And when we are faced with such situations it is time for the rest of us to chip in and see how we can stay together as a team,” Tewatia said.
“This win will surely bring in a lot of positivity and we hope we can draw from it and just believe that we can do things together for the team,” he added.
The Indian spinning allrounder also welcomed the addition of Ben Stokes into the side. “He has so much of intensity on and off the field and it is always a pleasure to have him around. We learn from much from such experienced players,” Tewatia noted.
Catch the match
Delhi Capitals vs Rajasthan Royals
Venue: Dubai International Stadium
Start: 6 pm UAE
Live telecast on Bein Sports
