04/04/26 02:00:00
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04/04 13:59 CDT Unbeaten Rajasthan and Delhi lead the IPL after second wins
Unbeaten Rajasthan and Delhi lead the IPL after second wins
AHMEDABAD, India (AP) --- Medium-pacer Tushar Deshpande held his nerve bowling
the last over to give Rajasthan Royals a thrilling six-run win against Gujarat
Titans in the Indian Premier League on Saturday.
Gujarat needed 11 runs from the final over and Deshpande conceded only four for
Rajasthan's second win from two matches and top spot in the table on net
run-rate from Delhi Capitals, who beat Mumbai Indians earlier.
Rajasthan notched 210-6 thanks to Dhruv Jurel's 75 off 42 balls and Yashasvi
Jaiswal's 55 off 36.
Gujarat, on the back of Sai Sudharsan's 73 off 44 and tailenders Rashid Khan
and Kagiso Rabada, mounted a terrific comeback to reduce the chase to a
reachable 15 off the last 12 balls.
But Rajasthan's England pacer Jofra Archer allowed only four runs in the 19th
over, and Deshpande, who played two Twenty20s for India in 2024, was given the
last over. He also allowed only four and closed with two dot balls and Khan's
wicket. With Gujarat stranded at 204-8, Deshpande thumped his chest in
jubilation.
Earlier, Delhi Capitals beat Mumbai Indians by six wickets in the national
capital and went top of the table for approximately four hours.
Sameer Rizvi blew away Mumbai with 90 runs off 51 balls to help set up Delhi's
second win from two matches.
The impact player followed his unbeaten 70 against Lucknow SuperGiants on
Wednesday with seven sixes and seven boundaries in his highest IPL score.
Delhi raced to 164-4 and a six-wicket win with 11 balls to spare in reply to
Mumbai's 162-6 and a first loss in the young season for the five-time champion.
Jaiswal and Jurel fifties
Rajasthan opted to bat first and Jaiswal and 15-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi
launched 70 runs off 38 balls for the first wicket.
Suryavanshi scored 31 off 18 including five fours and a six before he miscued
to deep midwicket.
Jaiswal took over to score 50 off 32 balls including three sixes and six
boundaries.
Jaiswal and Jurel combined for 56 into the 12th over before Jaiswal was bowled
by Rabada. Jurel carried Rajasthan past 200 in the 19th over before he nicked
behind in the 20th. Jurel hit five sixes and five fours.
Gujarat captain Shubman Gill was missing owing to a muscle spasm and Sudharsan
led the way with 50 off 33 in an opening stand of 78 with Kumar Kushagra.
When Sudharsan holed out in the 11th over, Gujarat started losing steam.
Impact substitute Ravi Bishnoi, the wrist spinner, picked 4-41 in four overs to
reduce Gujarat to 133-5 in the 14th over.
But Khan and Rabada fought hard to take the game into the final overs, where
they were trumped by Archer and Deshpande.
Rizvi's counterattack flattens Mumbai
Rizvi started his innings conservatively, taking 20 balls to get his eye in. He
came in with Delhi in trouble at 7-2 in the second over. Rizvi joined opener
Pathum Nissanka, who was the initial aggressor in their 66-run stand.
When Nissanka top-edged a pull straight up on 44 at 73-3, Rizvi took charge of
the chase at Arun Jaitley Stadium.
Rizvi hit 50 off 31 balls to lead Delhi to 100 in the 12th over. He appeared
set for his maiden IPL hundred and was 10 runs away when he went looking for
his eighth six and was caught at long-off off the bowling of Corbin Bosch in
the 17th over. Mumbai players applauded Rizvi as he left.
"Rizvi never let us get back into the game," Mumbai stand-in skipper Suryakumar
Yadav said.
Rizvi said he'd worked on his weaknesses, especially against fast bowlers,
before his third IPL. "I took time, got set and then played my shots," he said.
"I tried to watch the ball as long as possible. Did the same in the last game."
Mumbai was made to bat first and finished with a score Yadav felt was 15-20
runs short.
Mukesh Kumar (2-26) struck twice in the third over, bagging Ryan Rickelton on 9
and taking a return catch from Tilak Varma for a two-ball duck.
Yadav and Rohit Sharma combined for 53 off 40 balls but the slowish Delhi pitch
didn't allow the Mumbai stars to run away with the scoring rate.
Delhi skipper Axar Patel got the breakthrough when Sharma slapped him to cover
and Nitish Rana took a tough chance above his head in the 10th over.
Yadav got 51 off 36 but was out lbw to Lungi Ngidi and Mumbai faded.
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