NEW DELHI (Agencies): Jos Buttler’s 79 from 51 balls helped set up Rajasthan Royals’ 57-run win over Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League.
England white-ball captain Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal, who made 60, added an opening stand of 98 in just 8.3 overs.
Rajasthan’s run-rate stalled in the middle overs but Shimron Hetmyer’s explosive 39 not out from 21 balls led them to 199-4.
Delhi captain David Warner hit 65 in reply but they fell short on 142-9.
Buttler, who was dropped on 18 by Anrich Nortje, hit 11 fours and a six in his knock but Jaiswal was the early aggressor, racing to his half-century in just 25 balls. Delhi fought back to remove Jaiswal, followed by Sanju Samson and Riyan Parag for single-figure scores, as Rajasthan only managed to score 27 runs between overs 10-15.
Buttler remained to anchor the innings before he was dismissed in the 19th over, but Hetmyer’s four sixes propelled Rajasthan to their imposing total.
New Zealand seamer Trent Boult then gave Rajasthan the perfect start to the second innings with a double-wicket maiden – his second in three games. He dismissed Prithvi Shaw and Manish Pandey, before India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin claimed the wicket of Rilee Rossouw to leave Delhi 36-3.
Warner held firm to reach his half-century from 44 balls and added 63 for the fourth wicket with Lalit Yadav – but his strike-rate put pressure on the other Delhi batters as they attempted to catch up.
Boult finished with figures of 3-29 before the spinners tore through the middle order, Yuzvendra Chahal taking 3-27 and Ashwin 2-25.
The win takes Rajasthan to the top of the table with two wins from three, while Delhi are one place from bottom and still searching for their first win.
