IPL 2018, DD vs RR: 3 Unnoticed things from the game

An absolute humdinger of a match was witnessed in the rain-curtailed game at Feroz Shah Kotla between Delhi Daredevils and Rajasthan Royals who were languishing at the bottom of the IPL table. Delhi Daredevils overcame Jos Buttler's onslaught and managed to sneak victory by four runs. Finally coming well after a string of low scores batting in the middle order, Buttler was made to open the batting in pursuit of chasing improbable 151 runs from 12 overs.

He justified his place in the side by playing a blissful knock of 67 runs off 26 balls, which was not enough to secure a win for his team despite a late onslaught from Krishnappa Gowtham as well.

Sportskeeda takes a look at the three unnoticed things from the match which had a considerable impact on the result.

#1 Shreyas Iyer's crucial drop at the penultimate ball of the match

Ten runs were required in two balls when Gowtham had the strike thanks to a run out which saw the end of Rahul Tripathi trying to scamper a single. Gowtham looked set to repeat his heroics against Mumbai Indians, however, it was not to be.

Shreyas Iyer had a "dropped the match” moment in the game when Gowtham lofted a full ball which was at catchable height near the boundary where Iyer was stationed.

What was worse than the drop itself was that he tipped it to the boundary leaving Rajasthan Royals one hit away from snatching the match from jaws of defeat. Thankfully for Shreyas, Boult saved them from the blushes and managed to squeeze in a full-length ball outside off which went nowhere near the boundary line.

#2 Tripathi’s first catch of the tournament

Dropped down the order to accommodate hard-hitting foreign recruits, Rahul Tripathi has not been at his best in this tournament and is unable to repeat his heroics from last year in the middle order. His fielding also left a lot to be desired having dropped four catches in this tournament until this match, where he was seen fielding at various positions.

He finally caught one when Delhi captain Shreyas Iyer, batting on 50, skied Jaydev Unadkat near the boundary. It didn’t take much longer when another catch came his way from the same bowler and the batsman this time was Vijay Shankar, and he managed a brilliant grab near the boundary line once again.

Tripathi will be hoping for his form on the field to improve his batting form too, preferably at the top of the order.

#3 Half century of sixes from Iyer and Pant

Despite results not going their way, Gautam Gambhir sacrificing his captaincy and dropping himself from the side unleashed local batting talents form the team, notably newly appointed captain, Shreyas Iyer, Prithvi Shaw, and Rishabh Pant.

The hitting capabilities of these batsmen and their ability to clear boundaries at ease fetched wide appreciation from cricket pundits regardless of the match situation and bowlers. Their impact on the tournament was further enhanced by the fact that Iyer and Pant hit their 50th six playing for Delhi Daredevils in this match.