YESTERDAY'S IPL MATCH: DELHI CAPITALS BEAT RAJASTHAN ROYALS TO STAY ALIVE
Samson's 46-ball 86 in vain as Delhi pull off 20-run win
NEW DELHI: Was it a clean catch or was it not? The match on a knife's edge - somewhat tilting towards Rajasthan Royals - and a debatable catch sparking a controversy of sorts.
IPL ORANGE CAP | IPL PURPLE CAP | IPL POINTS TABLERR skipper Sanju Samson (86 off 46b; 8x4, 6x6) - in the form of his life - was going ballistic and looked set to singlehandedly win the game for his team against Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Tuesday.
It was the 16th over of the Royals innings and 60 runs were needed off 27 balls with Mukesh Kumar bowling. A gettable task in the modern T20 game. Samson got hold of an off-cutter from Mukesh and smacked it with ferocity, trying to clear the long-on boundary. But, Shai Hope - stuttering and stumbling - managed to hold on to the catch. TV replays showed that Hope's small strides - in pursuit of the catch - were almost parallel to the boundary cushion.
The TV umpire decided that cushion didn't move, Samson felt Hope had touched it. Samson stayed on the field for a while, arguing with the umpires but finally had to saunter away to the dugout.
The dismissal took the wind out of the sails of Rajasthan Royals, as Shubham Dubey (25 off 12b; 2x4, 2x6) - Samson's partner in a 59-run fourth-wicket partnership - fell in the next over to Khaleel Ahmed. Kuldeep Yadav's double-wicket 18th over just sealed the deal for DC as the home team went on to win by 20 runs. The victory kept DC's hopes of a playoff spot alive, as they jumped to the fifth in the points table.
Meanwhile, bowlers must be breathing a sigh of relief that Australian selectors did not pick Jake Fraser-McGurk for the upcoming T20 World Cup.
JFM, as he is now being referred to, is in imperious form. The 22-year-old is meting out tennis shots to all kinds of bowlers. It was a sight to see Fraser-McGurk flat bat a tennis-like forehand to a great of the game, Trent Boult.
The Delhi Capitals opener did so in the third over, evoking awe and surprise from the New Zealander. Fraser-McGurk (50 off 20b; 7x4, 3x6) went on to smash two more boundaries and take 15 runs from the over.
But the next over (DC's fourth) bowled by Avesh Khan was even more special. Fraser-McGurk went berserk, clobbering the Royals bowler for 28 runs in the over. Four boundaries and two maximums ensured Fraser-McGurk brought up his fourth IPL fifty off just 19 balls.
Rajasthan introduced Ashwin to stem the run flow, and the wily off-spinner had an immediate impact. Fraser-McGurk wanted to dominate Ashwin from the word go but could only push a full toss straight to the extra cover fielder, bringing curtains to a highly entertaining innings.
Fraser-McGurk's opening partner Abishek Porel (65 off 36b; 7x4, 3x6) was enjoying the fireworks from the other end till the Australian was there at the crease. Soon after his departure, Porel took over the mantle of taking down the bowlers. Porel took a special liking for RR's spinners. The left-hander smacked a six each off Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal to make sure the run-rate didn't drop.
Shai Hope's run-out and Axar Patel holing out to the long-off fielder did dent the DC innings a bit. Capitals skipper Rishabh Pant also couldn't do much, falling to Chahal after scoring 15 (off 13).
Porel too was dismissed by Ashwin, who ended with figures of 3/24 on a turf that had runs written all over it.
At this juncture, DC were losing their way ahead of the death overs. But, Tristan Stubbs (41 off 20b; 3x4, 3x6) had other ideas. The South African, in tremendous form, continued on his merry ways. Stubbs hammered Chahal's fourth - and the innings' 18th over - for 21 runs, and then kept the hitting process going against Boult and Sandeep Sharma in the next two overs as DC finished at 221/8 by the end of the 20 overs.