IPL 2022: Mitchell Marsh, David Warner’s heroics hand DC colossal 8-wicket win over RR

Riding on stellar batting performances by Mitchell Marsh and David Warner, Delhi Capitals beat Rajasthan Royals by eight wickets in the Indian Premier League 2022 match at the D Y Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai on Wednesday. With this win, Delhi Capitals keep their hopes to qualify for the play-offs alive.

Marsh’s 62-ball 89 and Warner’s unbeaten 52 off 41 propelled DC to win the match with 11 balls to spare. Although RR bowlers managed to halt DC’s momentum with the bat early on as Trent Boult gave away just one run in the first over and dismissed Srikar Bharat in just the second delivery of DC’s innings, Marsh and Warner stitched a 143 run partnership to steady the innings.

A well-set Warner and captain Rishabh Pant (13 off 4) provided the final finish to guide their team home. Apart from Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal (1/43) was the only other RR bowler to take a wicket as he dismissed Marsh in the eighteenth over.

Earlier in the match, DC’s bowling effort had already turned the momentum in their team’s favour as they restricted RR to 160 for six. Chetan Sakariya (2/23) had dismissed Jos Buttler for a mere seven runs while opener Yashasvi Jaiswal failed to repeat the heroics from his previous match and was dismissed for 19 runs by Mitchell Marsh (2/25). However, R Ashwin took the responsibility to top-score for the Rajasthan Royals, as he recorded his first IPL half-century off 38 balls, coming in to bat at 3.

Devdutt Padikkal who was batting out of position at No 4 also added runs to the RR tally in the middle overs to contribute 48 runs in his 30-ball stay. The gamble to send Ashwin up the order meant that captain Sanju Samson, Riyan Parag and Rassie van der Dussen came in to bat later than usual, leaving them to do some heavy-lifting during the death overs.

However, Samson was dismissed for six runs by Marsh in the sixteenth over while Riyan Parag hit Anrich Nortje (2/39) for a six before Sakariya cut short his brief nine-run stay on the crease. Padikkal also followed suit after Kamlesh Nagarkoti’s took a running catch. Eventually, Ashwin’s fifty and the 161-run target did not prove to be enough for RR.