On Wednesday, Ajinkya Rahane was a happy captain as Rajasthan Royals made a winning return to the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur, albeit with a little help from the rain Gods. Rajasthan overcame a shaky start and were on course to post a competitive total before heavy rain lashed the Sawai Mansingh Stadium with Royals reaching 153 runs for five in 17.5 overs.
Intermittent rain led to a two and a half hour stoppage before umpires gave their go ahead for a shortened game. Royals innings eventually ended at 153 for five and Delhi were set a revised target of 71 runs in six overs as per Duckworth Lewis method. The visitors made a disastrous start with Colin Munro run out off the first ball of the innings following a mix-up with Glenn Maxwell, who scored 17 runs off 12 balls.
Royals attack comprising pacers Ben Laughlin and Dhawal Kulkarni bowled well and kept the Daredevils batsmen guessing with their variations. Only two overs of Powerplay also hurt Delhi. With Rishabh Pant (20 off 14) gone in the penultimate over, Royals needed to defend 25 runs in the final over. Laughlin (2/20) did that pretty comfortably as Royals recorded their first win of the 2018 season, beating Delhi by 10 runs via the D-L-S method. It was a second straight loss for Daredevils. Delhi Daredevils next match to be played in Mumbai to face MI on Saturday, while Rajasthan will be hosted by Royals Challengers Bangalore in the first game on Sunday.
