Parag comes of age to keep Capitals, and away teams, winless
Chahal and Burger struck with Sandeep and Avesh closing things out with wide lines and yorkers
Chahal and Burger struck with Sandeep and Avesh closing things out with wide lines and yorkers
Scorer: Ranjith P | Commentator: @Sudarshanan7
And so, the streak of home teams winning matches continues in IPL 2024. Nine in a row, and it is the longest such streak at any point in the IPL, says Sampath. That's all we have for you all tonight. Do join us for another cracker - RCB take on KKR in Bengaluru - tomorrow. Till then, take care, ciao!
11:41pm Time for the presentation
Sanju Samson, Royals captain: "The way we started, the first ten overs, we were like Rovman, be ready you might have to bat! The IPL is changing and we all have to be flexible. Earlier it was about 11 players, now it is about all 15 players. Me and Sanga had a lot of chat between 15th and 17th over before deciding the Impact Player. It's all about gauging in which zone they are. You have to look at that and take your decision. I saw Sandy was calm and Avesh was also looking good, so i went with that. Riyan Parag has been a big name in the last few years. Wherever I go, people ask me about him. There is something very special he can give to Indian cricket."
Riyan Parag, Player of the Match: "Emotions are settled, mum's here as well. She's seen the struggles, this feels special. I know what my ability is and I never let that change - irrespective of whether I perform or not. A lot to do with the domestic season, where I scored a lot of runs. Someone in the top four has to take it deep. First match, Sanju bhaiya did it, today I did it. I had to work very hard. I was on bed in the last three days. I could manage it today."
11:25pm High fives all around in the Royals camp. Ninth successive win by a home team this season. The bowling changes from Samson were spot on. Never let the batters settle and some excellent death bowling saw them eke out a 12-run win. This was after a Riyan Parag special enthralled one and all in Jaipur. That was clean-hitting of a different class, capitalising on his superb form. Axar was thrifty with the ball for Capitals, but barring Warner, none of the batters could get going.
Rishabh Pant, Capitals captain: "Definitely disappointed. The best thing to do from here to learn from it. The bowlers did well through the 15-16 overs. But the batters did well at the death, hopefully we do better in the next game. The platform that Warner-Marsh gave was very nice. We had to save wickets. We had to consolidate but at the end we had a lot to cover up. [On not bowling Nortje to Parag earlier] There is always one or the other option, but we wanted to finish Nortje in the death overs. Sometimes you are going to go for runs. Didn't go well for us today."
Avesh Khan, Royals bowler: "[On the death-over yorkers] My plan is always clear. One side was longer, so my plan was to bowl wide yorkers. I was giving myself five seconds and only thought about executing them. My focus is always on the execution and back my yorkers. Enjoying myself here because we have Sandeep, Boult, Burger, all of whom have different skills. Samson gives me freedom to execute and only steps in if he sees I am struggling. I try to improve myself everytime. In T20s I try to reinvent myself. I never think about selection and only practice what I want to bowl."
Avesh to bowl the final
But having now presided over two losses, his task is cut out. And his batting is bound to come under more focus as the season progresses
All the runs in domestic cricket, "that constant support from myself to myself", and a maturity that's taken time coming have lifted Parag to the next level
Chahal and Burger struck with Sandeep and Avesh closing things out with wide lines and yorkers
He took down Nortje and powered Royals to 185 for 5 with his career-best 84* off 45 balls
"He understands his game more and taking on more responsibility has become non-negotiable to him"