IPL 2020 | DC vs RR: What experts said as Hetmyer helps Delhi humble Steve Smith’s Royals
It was the first time that a game at Sharjah saw no team crossing the 200-mark in this year’s IPL, as Delhi Capital defeated Rajasthan Royals by 46 runs in what could be the ‘nth one-sided affair in the IPL.
This year, although we have had two super overs but only a few of the 23 games completed have been good enough to say that they were exciting, the rest all have done and dusted by the time death overs arrive in the second innings. And this is w2orrying signs for the league.
But what’s refreshing is the way the Delhi side batted, like a champion indeed. Having lost five wickets for just 109 with their star performers so far, Prithvi Shaw, Marcus Stoinis, and Shreyas Iyer back in the hit, things weren’t looking bright for the Capitals till they found their new heroin Shimron Hetmyer.
The West Indian shaped the inning as he combined with both Stoinis for the fifth wicket and Axar Patel for the sixth wicket, making 45 off just 24 balls, giving his team the boost in the run rate and increase in the runs that they required. His innings had five maximums and just one four.
In the bowling department, Ravichandran Ashwin was the card of ‘Ace’ for the Capitals as he not only picked up two wickets but gave away just 22 runs in his quota of four overs and he did it in ‘Sharjah’.
Captains’ Viewpoint
Overwhelmed by the win, Delhi Capitals skipper Shreyas Iyer said, “I'm really happy with the way we came out in the second innings.” Explaining how the pitch at Sharjah has changed over the course of time, Iyer said, “We thought it was an under-par score but it was stopping on the wicket and the bowlers executed their plans really well. We were also going to bowl first with the dew factor, but thankfully it went in our favour.”
Praising his teammates, the 25-year-old said that it was easy to captain a team with so many stars in that, especially mentioning the pool of good bowlers. “I am enjoying captaincy because the players make it really easy, especially the bowlers. Even the way the support staff is managing the team meetings is commendable.”
“I think the mixture in our team is really good and we have worked really hard on this,” he added.
Stretching in the point that no opposition is to be taken lightly, Iyer concluded by saying that he was ‘happy’ with how they are progressing and hopes ‘to maintain the momentum’ going forward in the league.
It was a sorry state of affairs for Rajasthan and captain Steve Smith could do nothing but lament on the lost opportunities. “We are not playing good enough over the 40 overs,” he admitted at the very beginning of the post-match presentation interaction. He further said that his team is not ‘executing when the pressure is coming on’. “You can't win many games that way,” he added.
Agreeing to his counterpart Iyer, Smith too echoed the sentiments that the Sharjah pitch is changing. “The bowlers did a good job, and I don't think the wicket was as good as it has been here, a bit stoppy tonight, and we gave away 10-15 extra runs,” he said.
The fact that the team has only gone downhill ever since getting out of Sharjah after their second match, the pressure is obvious to creep in. But Smith says that all is not yet lost and wanted the team to remain positive.
“We have to remain positive, turn things around quickly. At the moment it doesn't seem to be going our way,” he said. “I'm not batting too well either. I did feel good tonight with the bat but didn't get hold of one that I feel like I should have,” the 33-year-old said, admitting his mistakes and the dip in form.
The talk of Ben Stokes coming back into the side was once gain in main focus as Smith clarified that his quarantine would end tomorrow (10th October) and hence the guarantee of him playing in the Sunday encounter could not be taken.
“Stokes hasn't had a lot of practice, he gets out of quarantine tomorrow, so we'll see if he plays the day after tomorrow,” Smith concluded.
Expert Opinion
The story of Rajasthan is following the same trajectory as Kings XI Punjab and it would be very hard to come back from there for the Royals. Experts too believe this.
Boria Majumdar said that Delhi Capitals is probably playing the tournament with their best-ever team and hence must make it, otherwise, they would have to repent.
Along with Boria, Harsha Bhogle, another top cricket commentator said that Rajasthan need to buck up otherwise they would end up being another Kings XI Punjab. The commentator was also sad by the falling standards of cricket in IPL and said that one-sided matches are not good for the league's growth.
Veteran cricket journalist, Ayaz Memon was happy with the fact that Ravichandran Ashwin was given the Man of the Match award in this game, Ashwin did not bat but made vital contributions with the ball, with figures of 4/33 in his entire quote.
While few of the experts were still discussing the minute details of the game, senior journalist Vimal Kumar commented that Delhi Capitals seem to have put one foot in the Playoffs and now it would be a challenge for other teams to dethrone it from the top spot in IPL.
For Vikrant Gupta, another broadcast journalist for cricket, Rajasthan lost a vital opportunity to make a comeback in the league after not being able to win this game.
The Pitches in UAE are coming in their original avatar as 'low and slow' have been their motto for quite some time. With Rajasthan Royals, Chennai Super Kings, and Kings XI Punjab lagging behind, hopefully, the weekends would be better and the audience might finally be able to see some exciting games.
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