|| India Correspondent ||

Keeping the winning momentum on, Delhi Capitals started their second half of the Indian Premier League 2020 journey with a convincing win over Rajasthan Royals in Dubai, courtesy Shikhar Dhawan and Shreyas Iyer’s fifties and some brilliant spells from their bowlers.

Shreyas Iyer won the toss and elected to bat first. Tushar Deshpande was back in the team in place of Harshal Patel. However, Rajasthan Royals kept their last match’s winning team intact. RR made sure a tight powerplay with the fiery spell from none other than the pace spearhead Jofra Archer.

His efforts didn’t go in vain as Prithvi Shaw was bowled on the very first ball of the innings. Soon, he dismissed Ajinkya Rahane for mere 9. Shikhar Dhawan and Shreyas Iyer played a crucial 85-run partnership for the third wicket.

Despite having a slow start, they soon picked up the pace and it laid a solid foundation for the rest of the batting order. They steadied the ship and put up 86 runs in 11 overs. Dhawan brought his fifty off 30 balls. Before they could damage more, Shreyas Gopal successfully broke the stand by removing Dhawan for 57 off 33 with 6 fours and 2 sixes.

On the other hand, Iyer reached his fifty with a maximum off 40 balls. Later, a 19-ball 18 from Marcus Stoinis and a 13-ball 14 from Alex Carey helped SRH to post 161-7 on the board after 20 overs.

Rajasthan Royals kept their last match’s opening pair when Ben Stokes opened the chase with his national teammate Jos Buttler. While both the players were in good touch with a few early boundaries, Buttler didn’t stay for long at the crease after he was bowled by Anrich Nortje for 22 off 9 with 3 fours and a six.

However, Steve Smith’s poor run continued as he too departed for mere 1. His delivery brought Sanju Samson in the middle and alongside Stokes, he tried to steady the ship with a 46-run stand. However, Stokes’ 41-run knock came to an end with Tushar Deshpande’s slower cutter which saw the all-rounder’s dismissal at long-on – his maiden IPL wicket.