NAVI MUMBAI: Delhi Capitals' skipper Rishabh Pant reckoned at the toss that anything in the range of 140-160 would be a good target for them to chase down against Rajasthan Royals at the DY Patil Stadium on Wednesday. His words turned out to be true, as the pace trio of Mitchell Marsh, Chetan Sakariya and Anrich Nortje took two wickets each to restric Rajasthan to 160/6 and then DC chased the total down with ease to win by eight wickets.
All-rounder Marsh came out to lead the run-chase with a 62-ball 89 while David Warner hanged around to play the anchor role, remaining unbeaten on 52 off 41 balls as Delhi earned a crucial win with 11 balls to spare, which has kept them alive in the race to playoffs.
"It was close to a perfect game as, I believe, there is always space for improvement. On these kind of wickets where there is little turn, you can go either way. I am happy we bowled first. I thought 140-160 was a good score and said so at the toss, and we got there," said Pant after the match.
Pant felt if his team's fielding had been better, it would have been the perfect match Delhi needed in an inconsistent campaign.
"Destiny is always in your hands, you can look to give 100 percent. The fielding could be better, but this was close to a perfect game," said Pant.
For Sanju Samson, it was a night to forget as Rajasthan brought out their pinch-hitter Ravichandran Ashwin at three after the fall of Jos Buttler. The move succeeded as Ashwin reached his maiden IPL fifty but it also meant that Samson, Rassie van der Dussen and Riyan Parag didn't get to face a majority of deliveries.
Moreover, the missed catches of Warner and Marsh cost RR, apart from Warner's slice of luck when a delivery from Yuzvendra Chahal brushed the leg-stump but the bails didn't fall.
"Very disappointing night. We were a few runs and a few wickets short. It was a two-paced wicket when we were batting; we thought we were 15 runs short. We had some bad luck with a few catches falling in front and one hitting the stumps but the bails not coming off."
Also, Rajasthan missed taking an LBW review when Trent Boult had trapped Marsh in the third over, only for replays to show later that it would have hit the stumps.
"I thought it (the ball) hit the bat and never made contact with the pad. Coming back stronger after losses is important, that will be our focus in the next game. Hopefully, we'll get Hettie (Shimron Hetmyer) back soon."
