Buttler’s century, Prasidh’s 3/22 take Royals to victory over Delhi Capitals

Earlier, 3 wickets by Prasidh Krishna (3/22) and Ravichandran Ashwin (2/32) dented the Capitals’ chase. In-form opener David Warner (28) was the first one to fall. The dismissal of Prithvi Shaw (37) and Pant (44) tilted the match in favor of the Royals. With the run rate climbing up and lack of support at the other end, Capitals’ chase looked like a far-fetched dream. Earlier in the day, Royals openers Buttler (116 off 65) and Devdutt Padikkal (54 off 35) took calculated risk after being put into bat, with Buttler playing second fiddle to Padikkal thanks to Shardul Thakur who conceded just six runs in his two overs in the powerplay. Buttler, who was relatively slow initially, caught up with Padikkal once the restrictions were lifted. Although the Royals scored 87 runs in the first 10 overs, their batters were merciless in their approach against the Capitals bowlers. Some poor fielding on Delhi Capitals’ part besides Khaleel Ahmed (4/47), Mustafizur Rahman (4/43), Lalit (4/41) and Kuldeep Yadav (3/40) leaking too many runs added to Royals’ advantage. Khaleel finally gave the Capitals some relief as he ended the 155-run opening partnership. The left-arm pacer trapped Padikkal soon after his fifty on the first delivery of the 16th over. Skipper Samson joined Buttler for the final five overs, which saw Royals add 67 runs. The Englishman raced to his century off 57 balls. In the penultimate over, Mustafizur got rid of Buttler, whose 65-ball innings was decorated with nine sixes and nine boundaries. Shardul, who wasn’t handed the ball after the powerplay, returned for the final over, raising questions surrounding Pant’s captaincy plans. Samson smashed 18 runs, including two fours and one maximum, to finish on 46 not out off 19 balls. (UNI)