Million Dollar Morris wins it for Rajasthan

Another IPL game, and another last-over finish as the Rajasthan Royals narrowly edged out the Delhi Capitals to win by 3 wickets thanks to an excellent cameo from Chris Morris at the death. Needing 27 to win off the final two overs, Morris proved to be the difference between the two sides and smacked four sixes off his countryman Kagiso Rabada and Tom Curran to help Rajasthan win the game with two balls to spare. The Royals were down in the dumps at the start of their batting innings thanks to a stunning opening burst from Chris Woakes and Kagiso Rabada. Woakes got rid of both openers in the 3rd over while Samson couldn’t replicate his heroics from the previous game against Punjab and nicked off to Kagiso Rabada for 4.

Following that opening spell, it was Avesh Khan’s turn to get in on the act as he got rid of the Indian duo of Dube and Parag to leave the Royals reeling at 42-5. Rajasthan were eventually able to consolidate their run chase in the middle overs through David Miller and Rahul Tewatia. Miller – who was in the side in place of the injured Ben Stokes – picked his matchups wisely as he hit 15 runs off the all-rounder Marcus Stoinis’s over. He even brought up his half-century with consecutive sixes off Avesh Khan but cruelly was dismissed off the very next delivery which punctured Rajasthan’s hopes for victory.

However, there was to be one more twist in the tale as Chris Morris – the most expensive player in the history of the IPL auction – won them the game in the end with some crucial swings of the willow. While Morris’s hitting was sensational, Delhi missed their lengths in the last few overs and the likes of Rabada and Curran failed to nail their yorkers which allowed Morris to swing freely and take the Royals to victory. 

Nevertheless, it was still a great fightback from the Delhi bowlers who nearly pulled off a great victory after their batsman posted a below-par score of 147. The Capitals top order – who were excellent against Chennai a few nights ago – misfired on the night and were reduced to 37-4 after 7 overs. They were particularly undone by the slower deliveries from Jaydev Unadkat and Mustafizur Rahman who utilized the slowness of this particular Mumbai track to good effect. The Capitals eventually got to a total of 147 on the back of Rishabh Pant’s half-century but such a low total would always be difficult to defend with the dew and the small boundaries working against them at the death.