IPL 2023: Jaiswal and Buttler show keeps RR unbeaten, DC still in the hunt for maiden season success

It has continued to be a flawless display of gameplay from former champion Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL). On Saturday, it trumped Delhi Capitals (DC) by 57 runs in Match 11 at the Assam Cricket Association (ACA) Stadium in Guwahati, with knocks from Yashasvi Jaiswal (60) and Jos Buttler (79) being the deciding factor. While RR has stayed unbeaten and dominates atop the points table, DC remains in the quest for its maiden season win.

Winning the coin toss, DC surprisingly invited RR to bat, given that it was an afternoon game. Openers Jaiswal and Buttler gave RR a dominating start, contributing to a 98-run stand. While the former slammed his fifth IPL half-century, he was also the first wicket to fall in the ninth over to pacer Mukesh Kumar.

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Although RR was quickly down to 126/3 by the 14th, Buttler and Shimron Hetmyer (39*) added 49 more for the fourth wicket to keep RR's fine innings on track. Having scored his 17th IPL 50, Buttler departed next to Mukesh in the 19th, while the side finished on a challenging total of 199/4.

For DC, Mukesh clasped a couple of wickets, while chinaman wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav was economical. Before the beginning of DC's chase, the side brought in opener Prithvi Shaw (0) as the Impact Player (IP) for pacer Khaleel Ahmed, but to no avail, as he became DC's opening wicket to fall in the third ball of the chase to pacer Trent Boult with no runs on the board.

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It was not the best of starts for DC, as it lost three for 36 by the sixth over of the PowerPlay. Opener David Warner (65) and Lalit Yadav (38) took mild control of the chase and added 64 for the fourth wicket before Boult knocked over the latter in the 13th. At this time, Warner also brought up his 6,000th IPL run and became the fastest to it in 165 innings.

Thereon, DC hardly got going and lost four more wickets in the process, eventually finishing at 150 and falling short of the target by 57 runs. For RR, Boult and leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal were the top performers, claiming three each, whereas pacer Sandeep Sharam was the most economical.