A magnificent knock of 84*(45) from Riyan Parag powered Rajasthan Royals to their second win in a row as they edged Delhi Capitals by 12 runs in Match 9 of TATA IPL 2024 at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.

Parag helped the hosts recover from 36/3 and post a competitive 185/5, hitting some scintillating strokes on his way to 84* off 45.

Impact Player Nandre Burger (2/29) and Yuzvendra Chahal (2/19) then led RR's charge with the ball in the Powerplay and the middle overs, respectively, before Avesh Khan bowled a fantastic final over to defend 17 and seal a brilliant win for RR. 

Chasing 186, Delhi Capitals got off to a brisk start but lost Mitchell Marsh and Ricky Bhui in the Powerplay. Warner and Marsh added 30 from 3.1 overs for the opening wicket before Impact Player Nandre Burger cleaned up Marsh (23 off 12) with a beauty and then bounced out Ricky Bhui two balls later with a searing bouncer.

Powerplay brilliance ⚡️⚡️

Nandre Burger is breathing 🔥 at the moment!

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Warner, thought, counter-attacked and hit three sixes and a four off the next two overs to take DC to 59/2 at the end of the Powerplay.

RR had a glorious chance to dismiss the dangerous-looking Warner after his mix-up with Rishabh Pant in the 9th over but the bowler R Ashwin failed to gather the throw with Warner struggling to get back at the non-striker's end after being sent back by Pant. Warner and Pant mixed caution with aggression and added 67 off 45 balls but a moment of brilliance broke the partnership as Sandeep Sharma pulled off a splendid catch of Warner (49 off 34) at short third man, off Avesh Khan in the 12th over.

𝙍𝙞𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙧 𝘼𝙡𝙚𝙧𝙩! 🚨

Sandeep Sharma with an unbelievable catch to dismiss David Warner 👏👏

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DC lost two in quick succession as Yuzvendra Chahal had Pant caught behind in the 14th over to jolt the visitors. DC then sent in Abishek Porel as the Impact Player but he couldn't make a significant impact as he holed out to long off, off Chahal in the 16th over.

Sandeep and Chahal bowled brilliantly in the middle to seize control for the home side.

With 60 needed off 24 balls, Stubbs pressed the accelerator button, smashing two sixes off Ashwin in the 17th over and accumulating 19 runs to bring the equation down to 41 needed off 18. Avesh bowled a decent 18th over to give away 9 runs.

With 32 needed off 12, Stubbs cracked a six and a four off the first two balls off the penultimate over, but Sandeep bounced back hard to concede just five off the next four balls. 

With 17 needed off the final over, Avesh Khan bowled a brilliant final over, held his nerve, nailed his yorkers and conceded just four singles to win the match by 12 runs for RR.

Tristan Stubbs remained unbeaten on 44(23), while Axar Patel remained not out on 15(13).

Earlier, Delhi Capitals captain Rishabh Pant won the toss and elected to field. It was a special moment and game for the DC captain as he was playing his 100th IPL match, and to celebrate the occasion, he was presented with a special jersey before the start of the game.

Delhi Capitals got off to a very good start and restricted Rajasthan Royals to 31/2 in the Powerplay.The pacers—Khaleel Ahmed, Mukesh Kumar and Anrich Nortje—started off well, bowled with discipline and gave very little away. RR couldn't get going to start off and scored just 12/1 in the first three overs. Mukesh Kumar provided a vital breakthrough upfront, cleaning up Yashasvi Jaiswal with a beauty in the second over.

CASTLED!

Early success for Mukesh Kumar & @DelhiCapitals 👏👏#RR lose Yashasvi Jaiswal

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Captain Sanju Samson then got going with three nicely timed fours off Mukesh Kumar in the fourth over. Nortje, however, bowled a frugal three-run over to keep RR in check. It helped bring a wicket as Khaleel struck another crucial blow as he had the in-form Sanju Samson caught behind to reduce RR to 31/2 at the end of the first six overs. RR managed just four fours inside the Powerplay.

RR struggled to find any momentum, and it got worse for them as Kuldeep trapped Jos Buttler LBW via an excellent review. RR promoted R Ashwin up the order, and he tried to up the ante with three powerful sixes.

MAXIMUMS 🆚 spin and pace 💥

Counter-attacking in style, the R Ashwin way 🔥🔥

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The RR all-rounder added 54(37) with Riyan Parag for the fourth wicket to somewhat stabilize RR. He, however, couldn't score big as he holed out to deep mid-wicket off Axar Patel on 29 in the 14th over.

Parag then took over the mantle and changed gears, cracking a six and a couple of fours off Khaleel in the 15th over and then going after Mukesh in the next over, smacking another four and a six to bring up his fifty off just 34 balls.

In between, DC introduced Abishek Porel as their Impact Player in the 16th over, replacing Khaleel Ahmed, who completed a very good spell of 4-0-24-1.

Parag went from strength to strength and hit some more scintillating strokes thereafter, smashing 58 off his last 19 balls. He got together with Jurel (20 off 12) and Shimron Hetmyer (14* off 7) to provide the crucial final flourish and help RR post 185/5. Parag went berserk in the final over, smashing 4,4,6,4,6, off Nortje to accumulate 25 off the over. The home side scored 92/1 in the last six overs as Parag remained unbeaten on 84(45).

RR introduced Nandre Burger as their Impact Player, replacing Shimron Hetmyer at the start of the second innings.