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Delhi - Karun Nair struck a composed half-century to guide the Rajasthan Royals to a seven-wicket victory over the Delhi Daredevils, with nine balls to spare, in an Indian Premier League match at the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi on Saturday.
Nair, who completed his half century from 41 balls, guided his team to their fourth victory in six matches and ended undefeated on 73 from 50 balls which included eight boundaries and two maximums as the Royals ended on 156 for three in response to the Daredevils’ 152 for five.
Nair opened the innings with Ajinkya Rahane (12) and the pair added 20 for the first wicket before Rahane drove Wayne Parnell (1-35) straight to Murali Vijay in the cover region.
Sanju Samson (34) then joined Nair and proceeded to smash two boundaries and two sixes in a partnership of 51 off 45 balls before Samson was brilliantly stumped by Dinesh Karthik off Shahbaz Nadeem (1-30) at the end of the 10th over.
Nair continued to dominate striking boundaries through the leg side and off side with aplomb. Nair struck the winning runs in the penultimate over when he hit Jaydev Unadkat (0-36) for two boundaries over the cover region.
Earlier, the Daredevils were given a lift by Quinton de Kock (43) and JP Duminy (39) and were aided by Kedar Jadhav (28 not out).
De Kock, who moved past the 2000-run mark in T20 cricket, struck five boundaries and one six in a 33-ball knock and shared in an opening stand of 33 off 25 balls with Vijay (13). The young South African opening batsman kept the Delhi innings together but when Pravin Tambe (2-27) claimed both the wickets of De Kock and Kevin Pietersen (14) in the 10th over, the innings lost impetus.
But a late onslaught from Duminy and Jadhav gave the home side something to bowl at. Duminy faced 31 balls with four boundaries and one six while Jadhav faced just 14 deliveries with two fours and two maximums to boost the total with a fifth wicket partnership of 46 from just 26 balls.
The Royals bowled extremely well in the middle overs with James Faulkner (2-26) leading the way as the left-arm fast bowler made the initial breakthrough and then dismissed Karthik (12). Kane Richardson (1-39), despite claiming the wicket of Duminy, was pummelled for 18 runs in his final over by Jadhav.
The victory has kept Rajasthan in third place on the IPL log but just two points adrift of Chennai and the Kings XI Punjab. Delhi, suffering their fourth defeat of the season, remain second from bottom with only four points and the worst net run-rate in the competition.
DELHI DAREDEVILS: Q de Kock, JP Duminy, KM Jadhav, KD Karthik (wk), Mohammed Shami, S Nadeem, WD Parnell, KP Pietersen (capt), R Sharma, JD Unadkat, M Vijay
RAJASTHAN ROYALS: AM Rahane, KK Nair, SV Samson (wk), SR Watson (capt), STR Binny, SPD Smith, JP Faulkner, DS Kulkarni, R Bhatia, KW Richardson, PV Tambe
Nair, who completed his half century from 41 balls, guided his team to their fourth victory in six matches and ended undefeated on 73 from 50 balls which included eight boundaries and two maximums as the Royals ended on 156 for three in response to the Daredevils’ 152 for five.
Nair opened the innings with Ajinkya Rahane (12) and the pair added 20 for the first wicket before Rahane drove Wayne Parnell (1-35) straight to Murali Vijay in the cover region.
Sanju Samson (34) then joined Nair and proceeded to smash two boundaries and two sixes in a partnership of 51 off 45 balls before Samson was brilliantly stumped by Dinesh Karthik off Shahbaz Nadeem (1-30) at the end of the 10th over.
Nair continued to dominate striking boundaries through the leg side and off side with aplomb. Nair struck the winning runs in the penultimate over when he hit Jaydev Unadkat (0-36) for two boundaries over the cover region.
Earlier, the Daredevils were given a lift by Quinton de Kock (43) and JP Duminy (39) and were aided by Kedar Jadhav (28 not out).
De Kock, who moved past the 2000-run mark in T20 cricket, struck five boundaries and one six in a 33-ball knock and shared in an opening stand of 33 off 25 balls with Vijay (13). The young South African opening batsman kept the Delhi innings together but when Pravin Tambe (2-27) claimed both the wickets of De Kock and Kevin Pietersen (14) in the 10th over, the innings lost impetus.
But a late onslaught from Duminy and Jadhav gave the home side something to bowl at. Duminy faced 31 balls with four boundaries and one six while Jadhav faced just 14 deliveries with two fours and two maximums to boost the total with a fifth wicket partnership of 46 from just 26 balls.
The Royals bowled extremely well in the middle overs with James Faulkner (2-26) leading the way as the left-arm fast bowler made the initial breakthrough and then dismissed Karthik (12). Kane Richardson (1-39), despite claiming the wicket of Duminy, was pummelled for 18 runs in his final over by Jadhav.
The victory has kept Rajasthan in third place on the IPL log but just two points adrift of Chennai and the Kings XI Punjab. Delhi, suffering their fourth defeat of the season, remain second from bottom with only four points and the worst net run-rate in the competition.
DELHI DAREDEVILS: Q de Kock, JP Duminy, KM Jadhav, KD Karthik (wk), Mohammed Shami, S Nadeem, WD Parnell, KP Pietersen (capt), R Sharma, JD Unadkat, M Vijay
RAJASTHAN ROYALS: AM Rahane, KK Nair, SV Samson (wk), SR Watson (capt), STR Binny, SPD Smith, JP Faulkner, DS Kulkarni, R Bhatia, KW Richardson, PV Tambe
