IPL 2021: Chris Morris’ heroics lead Rajasthan Royals to thrilling victory over Delhi Capitals
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Chris Morris
Rajasthan Royals (RR) clinched a low-scoring encounter against Delhi Capitals (DC) at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai to notch up their first win of the 2021 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). RR on the other hand, slumped to their first loss in the season despite coming up with a good bowling performance till the last few overs at the death shifted things in RR’s favour.
Earlier, RR won the toss and opted to field first. They brought in Jaydev Unadkat for Shreyas Gopal and David Miller for Ben Stokes. DC brought in Lalit Yadav for Amit Mishra and Kagiso Rabada for Shimron Hetmyer. Both sides’ selection moves worked on the night as all the aforementioned four players made sizable contributions for their side. In the end however, it was RR who came up trumps.
Rishabh Pant and David Miller hit fifties
DC were stunned in the Powerplay as Jaydev Unadkat ripped through the top-order removing each of the top three batsmen in a superb spell of bowling. DC’s innings looked to be going nowhere before captain Rishabh Pant rescued his side with a knock worth its weight in gold. The young skipper could have taken his side to a big score before he was run-out by a great bit of fielding from Riyan Parag. The bowling all-rounders in the lower-order then took the score to a respectable 147.
In the chase, RR’s innings got off to a similar start as that of DC with Chris Woakes sending back both openers with a double strike. With the likes of Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube and Riyan Parag following soon as well, it was left to David Miller to wage a lone battle. The South African did it to perfection by getting to a half-century but his wicket looked to have all but sealed the deal for DC. There was a twist in the tale however as Chris Morris hit four huge sixes in the last two overs to steal an unlikely victory for RR.
Scores
DC innings
| Batsman | Mode of Dismissal | Runs | Balls |
| Prithvi Shaw | c Miller b Unadkat | 2 | 5 |
| Shikhar Dhawan | c Samson b Unadkat | 9 | 11 |
| Ajinkya Rahane | c & b Unadkat | 8 | 8 |
| Rishabh Pant | run out (Parag) | 51 | 32 |
| Marcus Stoinis | c Buttler b Mustafizur | 0 | 5 |
| Lalit Yadav | c Tewatia b Morris | 20 | 24 |
| Tom Curran | b Mustafizur | 21 | 16 |
| Chris Woakes | not out | 15 | 11 |
| Ravichandran Ashwin | run out (Miller/Samson) | 7 | 4 |
| Kagiso Rabada | not out | 9 | 4 |
Total – 147/8 in 20 overs
| Bowler | Overs | Runs | Wickets |
| Chetan Sakariya | 4 | 33 | 0 |
| Jaydev Unadkat | 4 | 15 | 3 |
| Chris Morris | 3 | 27 | 1 |
| Mustafizur Rahman | 4 | 29 | 2 |
| Riyan Parag | 2 | 16 | 0 |
| Rahul Tewatia | 3 | 27 | 0 |
RR innings
| Batsman | Mode of Dismissal | Runs | Balls |
| Jos Buttler | c Pant b Woakes | 2 | 7 |
| Manan Vohra | c Rabada b Woakes | 9 | 11 |
| Sanju Samson | c Dhawan b Rabada | 4 | 3 |
| Shivam Dube | c Dhawan b Avesh | 2 | 7 |
| David Miller | c Lalit b Avesh | 62 | 43 |
| Riyan Parag | c Dhawan b Avesh | 2 | 5 |
| Rahul Tewatia | c Lalit b Rabada | 19 | 17 |
| Chris Morris | not out | 36 | 18 |
| Jaydev Unadkat | not out | 11 | 7 |
Total – 150/7 in 19.4 overs
| Bowler | Overs | Runs | Wickets |
| Chris Woakes | 4 | 22 | 2 |
| Avesh Khan | 4 | 32 | 3 |
| Kagiso Rabada | 4 | 30 | 2 |
| Ravichandran Ashwin | 3 | 14 | 0 |
| Tom Curran | 3.4 | 35 | 0 |
| Marcus Stoinis | 1 | 15 | 0 |
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Nevin Clinton
(2399 Articles Published)