IPL 2019: Delhi Capitals end the league stage with a comprehensive 5-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals 

Delhi Capitals ended the league stage with a comprehensive five-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals in the 53rd match of VIVO IPL 2019 played at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium, Delhi on Saturday. It was a dominating performance by DC right from the beginning who restricted RR to a modest total and then chased down the target with ease.

RR captain Rahane won the toss and decided to bat first. Ishant Sharma took wickets of Rahane, Livingstone and Lomror to break the backbone of RR batting line up while Sanju Samson was run out by Shaw. At the end of six overs, RR were struggling at 30 for 4.

After the power play overs, Delhi Capitals bowlers kept picking wickets at regular intervals. Parag was the lone RR batsman to provide some resistance and played well. Parag reached his half-century off 47 balls. He became the youngest player to score a half-century in IPL history. Rajasthan Royals scored just 115 for 9 in 20 overs. For Delhi Capitals, Ishant Sharma and Amit Mishra took three wickets each while Trent Boult took two wickets.

Chasing the target of 116 runs to win, Dhawan and Shaw began on a steady note adding 28 runs for the opening wicket. Ish Sodhi struck by dismissing Dhawan and Shaw in two successive deliveries. Pant and Shreyas Iyer played with positive intent. At the end of six overs, DC were 46 for 2.

After the power play overs, Shreyas Gopal dismissed Iyer for 15 runs. Pant showed his class with some big strokes to put RR bowlers under pressure. Colin Ingram and Shane Rutherford did not make it count and were dismissed for 12 and 11 respectively. Pant hit the winning shot and reached his fifty off 38 balls. Delhi Capitals won the match by 5 wickets with 23 balls to spare.

Brief scores: Delhi Capitals 121 for 5 in 16.1 overs (Pant 53*, Ish Sodhi 3/26, Shreyas Gopal 2/21) beat Rajasthan Royals 115 for 9 in 20 overs (Riyan Parag 50, Amit Mishra 3/17, Ishant Sharma 3/38) by 5 wickets.