New Delhi: The young brigade of Rajasthan Royals came out trumps, defeating Delhi Daredevils by seven wickets in their Indian Premier League Season Seven match here on Saturday night. Young Karun Nair cracked abrilliant unbeaten half-century to guide Rajasthan Royals to a comfortable seven-wicket victory over Delhi Daredevils.
A total of 152 was always going to be a challenging one on the testing Kotla track, but the Royals batsman displayed a calm head and a methodical approach cruising past the target in 18.3 overs.
Youngsters Karun Nair (73 not out, 50 balls, 8×4, 2×6) and Sanju Samson took it upon themselves after the early departure of the experienced Ajinkya Rahane (12). The two personified Rajasthan’s never-say-die spirit and their 51-run stand (off 43 balls) for the second wicket laid a solid foundation for Rajasthan’s win. By the time Samson departed – clobbering the home bowlers in his well crafted 28-ball 34 – the visitors had smelled victory.
The home bowlers were made to look ordinary as the 22-year-old Jodhpur born Nair, who had a successful domestic season with Karnataka, relied on technique and temperament coming up with all the answers on the day. He reached the 50-run mark in 41 balls, as home bowlers looked out of sorts.
Scorecard
Delhi Daredevils: Q de Kock c&b Tambe 42, M. Vijay c Watson b Faulkner 13, KP Pietersen c Smith b Tambe 14, KD Karthik c Binny b Faulkner 12, JP Duminy c Bhatia b Richardson 39, K. Jadhav (not out) 28, W. Parnell (not out) 0. Extras (lb 3, w 1) 4. Total (for five wickets in 20 overs) 152.
FoW: 1-33, 2-69, 3-71, 4-95, 5-141.
Bowling: Binny 1-0-9-0, Richardson 4-0-39-1, Kulkarni 3-0-18-0, Watson 1-0-11-0, Faulkner 4-0-26-2, Tambe 4-0-25-2, Bhatia 3-0-21-0.
Rajasthan Royals: A. Rahane c Vijay b Parnell 12, K. Nair (not out) 73, S. Samson st Karthik b Nadeem 34, R Bhatia b Mohammed Shami 17, S. Watson (not out) 16. Extras (w 3, lb 1) 4. Total ( for three wickets in 18.3 overs)156.
FoW: 1-20, 2-71, 3-115,
Bowling: S. Nadeem-4-0-30-1, M. Shami 4-0-22-1,W. Parnell 4-0-35-1, J. Unadkat 3.3-0-36-0, R .Sharma 3-0-32-0.
