Steely Starc seals Super Over win
Mitchell Starc starred as Delhi Capitals pulled off a stunning win against Rajasthan Royals in a thrilling Super Over finish at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Wednesday.
Chasing 189, Rajasthan needed 12 runs in the Super Over, but Starc’s disciplined bowling and two key run-outs restricted them to just 11. Tristan Stubbs then sealed the win for Delhi with two balls to spare, smashing a short ball from Sandeep Sharma over deep mid-wicket.
The victory looked like a dream when both Nitish Rana, who scored a fifty in only 26 balls and Dhruv Jurel, brought Rajasthan on the doorsteps of a famous win. However, Stark bowled three crucial overs –two in the death and one in the Super Over to get Delhi over the line.
This win marked Delhi’s ninth consecutive victory at the Arun Jaitley Stadium when batting first and took them to the top of the IPL points table with 10 points.
Rajasthan needed 31 runs in the last three overs chasing a target of 189 runs with seven wickets in hand. In walked Stark, who only conceded eight runs and scalped the prized wicket of Rana with an in-swinging delivery. Only a streaky boundary by Shimron Hetmyer ruined the over. He then bowled the final over off the innings when Rajasthan needed only nine runs. But once again, the big Australian had his say as both Hetmyer and Dhruv Jurel failed to take Rajasthan over the line as Jurel was run out going for the second run off the last ball.
In the Super Over, Starc kept things tight despite two boundaries. His efforts helped dismiss both Riyan Parag and Yashasvi Jaiswal via run-outs, limiting Rajasthan to 11. Stubbs made light work of the chase, finishing it in four balls.
The score was overhauled in only four balls as Stubbs took full toll of Sharma’s short ball for a famous win.
Earlier, the home team had to lean on their lower middle order batters to take them to a competitive total. Skipper Axar Patel who scored a quick fire 14-ball 34 and Stubbs who contributed 38 unbeaten runs to take the core to 188.
After an explosive start where openers Abhishek Porel and Jake Fraser-McGurk added 32 runs in the first two over, Delhi scoring rate dipped considerably as both Fraser-McGurk and Karun Nair went dismissed in the same over Although Porel top scored with 49 Delhi’s innings was stuttering.
Delhi had only scored 111 runs by the end of 15th over. All changed since the 16th bowled by Wanindu Hasaranga. Axar hit Hasaranga for two successive boundaries and followed it up for a slog sweep six. 19 runs came off that over and Delhi’s innings was back and running. However, it was always felt that the home team was 20-run short. But Delhi had Stark on their side who took them home.
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