Royals miss out as Nortje leads Capitals' stellar defence
Three fast bowlers provided spine-tingling entertainment from both sides, but Capitals won the final overs battle
Three fast bowlers provided spine-tingling entertainment from both sides, but Capitals won the final overs battle
Scorer: Chandan Duorah | Commentator: Sidharth Monga
That is all from us tonight. This game was a refreshing change to watch: just pure pace to go with some seam and some excellent spin bowling from Ashwin and Axar. Too bad Archer had to finish on the losing side, but Nortje had a better attack to support him. DC are back on top, but they have injury issues. This is a big week for them, If they can come out of it unscathed and have both Pant and Iyer ready towards the end of the tournament, they will be tough to beat. We will know more about Iyer's fitness tomorrow. Thanks for joining us
Anrich Nortje, the Man of the Match: "No idea I bowled at 156ks tonight but good to hear it. Been feeling really good so it is nice to see some results. Jis played them really well. Ja I thought I was a touch full. The first ball I didn't expect him to go. Ja I thought it was best to stick to my strength: trying to hit the stumps and bowl fast. Maybe he was expecting something else, a short ball or something. We have got a good coach, and obviously working with KG and other fast bowlers. Tushar has been nailing the yorkers in the nets."
Shikhar Dhawan: "Shreyas is in a bit of pain. We will know more tomorrow. His shoulder is moving, touch wood. I am glad that we won this game. Coming back into this was a great team effort. Quite enjoyed it. We always believed we had a chance. We knew their batting is not that deep. We knew we could get into them if we got the top order. And we have got experience in the bowling. Now we have got a gun bowler in Anrich. And Tushar bowled smartly too, bowling slower balls, making them hit to the bigger boundary."
Steven Smith: "Disappointing one. Obviously the wicket slowed up a fair but, but we got off to a good start with Jos and Stokesy. Then Sanju and Stokesy got partnership going but we lost too many wickets. On a slow wicket it is difficult to make up runs in the end. We needed to take it deep with set batsmen. Guys kept getting in and kept getting out, and not making 60-odd to see us through. The guys that have the air speed have had the most success. Jofra has been brilliant for us so have Nortje and Rabada for Delhi. We are not in a great position, are we? We have got to quickly move on and come back with a big game in three days time."
What an exceptional defence of a small total after being put under the pump. Their key payers are dropping down with injuries, but their bowling continues to be too hot to handle. Nortje must have bowled at least seven-eight balls over 150ks tonight. There was two over 155ks in a row. One was ramped by Buttler for four, the next one castled him. RR always looked ahead of the curve, but played like a side not in a habit of winning. And this DC side is extremely good against sides that are not sure what they are doing out there. This was a livewire through and through. You could burn your fingers.
Rabada pumped at the top. Nortje ramped. Nortke strikes back. Ashwin takes a wicket in PP. Samson seems to unsettle Axar Patel. Patel comes back to outsmart him. Uthappa runs Parag out. Uthappa keeps them going. Then Ashwin bowls an excellent 16th over. And then Nortje and Rabada kill it off
S Gopal c sub (Lalit Yadav) b Deshpande 6 (4b 1x4 0x6) SR: 150
Three sixes to tie
Need to hit three sixes now. In four balls
Deshpande will hate to bowl a no-ball here
Three fast bowlers provided spine-tingling entertainment from both sides, but Capitals won the final overs battle
Also, is it time for Steven Smith to be dropped?
ESPNcricinfo's updates from the 30th match of IPL 2020, in Dubai
The Capitals vs Royals was a truly thrilling exhibition of ferociously fast bowling
The early pace-setters have had to tweak their plans after injuries to Pant and Ishant