DC vs RR

A couple of crucial results on this double-header Sunday, we now have the first officially qualified team into the playoffs with the defending champs RCB booking their spots early in the day. DC keep hanging in their with a win on their final home game of the season, first win in Delhi in 6 games for the Capitals and it comes against the Royals who have now gone into must-win territory themselves. Plenty of action coming up in the upcoming week, CSK host SRH with two seasons on the line tomorrow. Make sure you don't miss it, for now this is Sourabh Agrawal signing off on behalf of Bala and the rest of the team. Cheers!

Mitchell Starc is the Player of the Match for his spell of 4/40, this is what he had to say: Bit of an interesting one. Had different wickets here in Delhi. We did not bowl too bad in the powerplay but they got away, we pulled it back nicely in the middle to a total we thought we could chase it down. KL has been giving us those starts all season long, to finish with a win at home is nice

Adjusting as quick as you can, quicker than the other team is the key. Specially here when the boundaries are not too long, there was a bit of reverse as well. Lungi bowled really well. We adjusted really well after the powerplay

That is the beatuy of T20 cricket, the games come around pretty quickly and you cannot dwell on things. As bowlers, you have to put the ego aside. (helping the bowling group) There is plenty of talent there. We have got some good experience there with the overseas and with the local guys who have been around in the IPL. Plenty of youngsters coming in and performing as well, has been the case over the years and pretty sure it will be the same this year as well

Axar Patel (DC captain): Winning at home feels good, specially after losing many games. Was the last match at home, doing it in front of the fans gives us happiness. When we were losing then also I said this, we were losing wickets in clusters and tonight that did not happen and we finished it in the end. (bowling effort) We have made comeback with the ball in a few games this season after the powerplay. After the strategic timeout, the talk was that the game will start now. The 14th over in which 3 wickets fell, that started it off for us and then we bowled well in the remaining 6 overs. The youngster (referring to Starc) did it for us today, we were only discussing as to what fields we need to set for the new batters

KL Rahul (56 off 42 balls): "This one feels a little bit more special because, you know, the pitch is going for 500 runs every season. But I set out to achieve something else, which is to up my strike rate and try to keep up with the modern T20 demand. So yeah, I’m quite pleased that I could do that. But if we had a few more wins, that would have been even more special.I think we still have an outside chance, so we’re hoping we can get a win next game and some of the other teams can help us out.You mean when I play faster and improve the strike rate? Yeah, I mean, it’s been a journey. I don’t think I’ve cracked it completely yet. Playing sport is all about trial and error, being open to experimenting, being open to being uncomfortable and doing uncomfortable things.I’ve always tried to do that and adapt to the demands of the game and do what the team asks of me. This time there was a very clear message from the coach and the captain. We had a chat before the season and they wanted me to play at a certain strike rate, dominate the powerplay and dominate the bowling. That’s how I tried to model my game around it and do that for the team.Today again, we had a practice meeting a couple of days ago because the wickets here in the last two or three games have been a bit tricky. They expected somebody in the top three to bat deep, so I had to take on that role today. Luckily for me, Abishek Porel batted beautifully and took the game on from the beginning, so I could take some time, build an innings, stay there as long as possible and keep the dressing room calm. He’s shown everyone what he can do. He plays proper cricket shots and is trying to understand the T20 game and improve his strike rate and use the powerplay better. I think he batted beautifully last season as well, but the feedback to him was that they wanted him to improve that strike rate. Unfortunately, he didn’t get too many chances at the beginning of the season, which is frustrating as a player, but he’s someone who has been open to experimenting. He’s been talking to me, talking to the coaches, working hard on his game and trying to improve that part of his batting. Now that he’s got the opportunity, an innings like this will give him confidence. At the end of the day, T20 is about confidence and belief that even with proper cricket shots and the skills you have, you can score at 170 or 200 strike rate. Once you do that a couple of times, you get more relaxed and then start focusing purely on batting the ball. But for someone trying to achieve a higher strike rate, there’s always extra pressure. He’s handled that beautifully and I’m really happy he could do that for the team today. The way he batted was exceptional.”

Riyan Parag (Rajasthan Royals captain): "We were in a pretty good shape after 14 overs. After I got out, we didn't capitalize on that. It had to be 220-230, something like that. And as far as the bowling is concerned, I think we were just weren't there. We weren't up to the mark. (Donovan) Ferreira wasn't a gamble. I know on TV it looks like a gamble, but then you've got two left-handers. I'd rather bowl a tournament, take a chance, than get (Dasun) Shanaka to bowl another over. Didn't really work out. (On fielding tonight) Very poor. I feel if you want to win a trophy, if you want to be contending every single year, you've got to be better than what we've done today. Extremely disappointed. I feel we are a way better team than what we've played or shown in the last four to five games. But today was just, I feel, after coming from a break, I feel what we've shown today, energy-wise, skill-wise, execution-wise, is definitely not up to the mark. And if we keep on playing like this, we shouldn't be in contention for the top four. (On chances to qualify) I think that's depending on a lot of other teams as well. That is not how I like to lead. That is not how I like to speak to my team as well, that, oh, we need these guys to keep on losing so we can win two games. We've had the opportunity. We've not taken it. So if we do not qualify, it's our fault, no one else's. And, yeah, next two games, we'll see what we can do better and hopefully get two wins."

11:33 PM local time and IST: MATCH SUMMARY

Delhi Capitals (197/5 in 19.2 overs) beat Rajasthan Royals (193/8 in 20 overs) by 5 wickets

KL Rahul 56(42) | Mitchell Starc 4/40(4)
Dhruv Jurel 53(40) | Jofra Archer 2/35(4)

Ashutosh Sharma once again ice cold at the end, seals the win for Capitals and as a result DC keep hanging in their by a thread while RR's playoff hopes take a hit, the maximum the men in pink can now get to is 16 points which might or might not be enough. It kept swinging from one way to the other before Ashutosh Sharma walked out and smashed 18* off 5 balls to take the Capitals home ensuring they do a double over the Royals this season

Royals would feel that they let the game slip away in the field, they suffered a horrible collapse with the bat going from 160/2 in 16 overs to finish with just 193/8 but yet they had enough chances with the ball and on the field to get those two points. Not to be though, multiple misfields, sloppy hands and if you include KL Rahul being dropped on his very first ball by Punja, DC had the fair share of the rub of the green and in the end have come out trumps with much needed two points that keeps their season alive

KL Rahul and Abhishek Porel added 105 runs in the first 10 overs, it looked like DC would breeze through to the target but then as it happened in the first innings things slowed down dramatically in the second half of the innings and the boundaries dried up. Archer picked up a crucial couple of wickets in a fiery spell, so did Brijesh but an over here or there like the one from Ferriera in the 18th which went for 16 proved to be costly for RR

Not sure how RR will look back at this game at, the truth is that they were sub-par on the field and on occasions with the bat. DC had just enough in the tank to get the job done, they now move to number 7 in the points table. A lap of honor around the stadium for the home side, they are thanking their fans for their support as they sign off with a win at home

19.2 Adam Milne to Ashutosh Sharma, SIX! BOOM! Ashutosh Sharma wins it for the Capitals in style! Short of a length angling in. He stays low and pulls it over the mid-wicket fence

19.1 Adam Milne to Ashutosh Sharma, FOUR! Full ball on the stumps. He takes the front leg away and hits it over mid-off. Just one hit away from victory now

Instead it will be Ashutosh on strike and there will also be an over-rate penalty for RR who can only have 4 fielders inside the ring in the final over. Can Milne make a match of this?

DC need 7 from the final over. Surely they will do it? Who will bowl it? Milne? That could so easily have been another wicket and that would have meant the new batter on strike with 8 needed, not to be

18.6 Brijesh Sharma to Ashutosh Sharma, short of a length into the body. Mistimes the pull to mid-wicket. There is an opportunity at the non-striker's end but he misses. Just 7 required off the final over

18.5 Brijesh Sharma to Ashutosh Sharma, SIX! BOOM! A bit too short and gets punished. Ashutosh hangs back and shovels it over the mid-wicket fence