IPL 7: Rajasthan Royals' victory adds to Delhi Daredevils misery

Ajinkya Rahane

Ahmedabad: Rajasthan Royals hammered Delhi Daredevils by 62 runs to hand them their sixth consecutive defeat of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Sardar Patel Stadium here Thursday.

Chasing Royals' mammoth total of 201/6, Daredevils could only manage 139/9 off their 20 overs. With the win, Royals solidified their third position in the standings with 14 points.

Ajinkya Rahane. PTI Pic

Royals got off to a fantastic start after being put in to bat thanks to Ajinkya Rahane's knock of 64 off 50 deliveries. Though opener Karun Nair (19) got out early, Rahane was given good support by Kevon Cooper, who smashed a 16-ball 32.

After the West Indian Cooper got out, Rahane still continued his onslaught till he was bowled by spinner Shahbaz Nadeem with the score at 167/3 in the 17th over.

The home team suffered a minor jolt as they lost all-rounder Stuart Binny (0) and Sanju Samson (40) in a span of two runs but James Faulkner provided an exciting cameo towards the end to take his team to a 200-par total. The Australian smashed three sixes in his 8-ball unbeaten innings knock of 23.

South African googly specialist Imran Tahir was the pick of the bowlers for the Delhi outfit as he picked 2/25 from his four, slowing down the Royals' run rate. Nadeem also clinched two while J.P. Duminy scalped a wicket at the start.

In reply, Daredevils batting never clicked as a batting unit as they started losing wickets right from the start. Only four batsmen -- Kevin Pietersen (13), Mayank Agarwal (17), Manoj Tiwary (61 not out) and Rahul Shukla (14) -- reached double figures out of the XI who batted.

Middle order batsman Tiwary waged a lone battle hitting two sixes and five boundaries in his 44-ball knock.

All seven Royals' bowlers played their part well by sharing all the wickets among them with all-rounder Rajat Bhatia the only one to clinch two wickets from his three overs.