RR vs DC: Sanju Samson blitz in vain as Delhi defend 221 to keep playoffs hopes alive

Rishabh Pant’s Delhi held their nerves under pressure and confusion to beat Rajasthan in a high-scoring thriller at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Tuesday, May 7.

The former finalists successfully defended 221 to keep their hopes of playoffs alive and deny Rajasthan a ‘Q’ after their name in the IPL 2024 points table. Delhi took their tally to 12 points in as many games and joined the mid-table muddle at a time when the race to the top 4 spots is heating up in the business end of the league stage.

In the battle of the two World Cup-bound Indian wicketkeepers, Rishabh Pant outclassed Sanju Samson, marshaling the bowling resources wonderfully well. Pant kept his composure, making the right bowling and feeding changes in the middle. Pant was also helped by the fact that his spinners, Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel, delivered better in tandem than the Rajasthan duo of R Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal, who was taken to the cleaners.

Delhi rode on an all-round show to clinch a 20-run win on Tuesday. The hosts rode on Abhishek Porel’s maiden IPL fifty, Jake Fraser-McGurk’s sensational blitz and all-round bowling performance, led by Kuldeep Yadav and Mukesh Kumar who shared 4 wickets between them.

SAMSON’S BLITZ IN VAIN
Rajasthan came up with a valiant effort with the bat after ‘restricting’ Delhi to 221, the lowest first-innings total at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in IPL 2024 so far. However, a Sanju Samson special — 86 off 46 — went in vain as Rajasthan were restricted to 201 for 8 in their quota of 20 overs. Rajasthan would have become the first team to qualify for the playoffs had they chased down 222 on Tuesday. However, a controversial third umpire call that saw the end of Sanju Samson’s blinder triggered a collapse.

Samson was keeping Rajasthan in the hunt as the chasing side went past 160 in the 16th over. Despite losing big guns Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler and Riyan Parag cheaply, Samson single-handedly kept the asking rate under check. The Rajasthan captain’s improved composure and shot selection were on display as he never looked hurried in the chase and kept finding the boundaries with ease.

SAMSON: OUT OR NOT OUT?

Samson hit 6 sixes and 8 boundaries and perished in the 16th over while trying to hit another big one. He was caught in the long-on by Shai Hope, who balanced himself well inside the boundary rope after holding on to a tight one. Samson was not happy with the third umpire’s Michael Gough’s call. He argued with the on-field umpires and refused to leave the field even as the replays shown on the big screen were not entirely conclusive.

Shai Hope tip-toed along the boundary rope and held onto the catch that turned the momentum in Delhi’s favour.

However, Samson made the slow walk back to the pavilion and Rajasthan, who did not have Shimron Hetmyer on Tuesday, imploded in the end overs.

Rajasthan added only 39 runs in 26 balls and lost 4 wickets after Samson’s exit in the 16th over. Kuldeep Yadav jolted the Rajasthan chase by getting the wicket of debutant Donnovan Ferreira (1) and R Ashwin in the 17th over.

Mukesh Kumar closed out the match when Rajasthan needed 29 off the last over by getting the big wicket of Rovman Powell. Rajasthan missed the power of Hetmyer as the West Indies batter had to sit out due to illness.