Raipur, Feb 8 Delhi Royals registered their first victory of the Legend 90 League with a dominant 41-run win over Rajasthan Kings in Match 4 at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium on Saturday.
After putting up a formidable total of 195/3 in 90 balls, Delhi Royals effectively defended their score, restricting Rajasthan Kings to 154/4.
Rajasthan Kings skipper Ankit Rajpoot opted to bowl first, but Delhi Royals capitalised on the decision. Shikhar Dhawan gave his team a blazing start, striking three consecutive fours in the first over against Rajpoot. He, along with Lendl Simmons, built a solid 60-run partnership before falling to Sudeep Tyagi.
Simmons, playing his first match of the season, continued to dominate, stitching an 82-run stand with Angelo Perera for the third wicket. The former West Indies opener smashed 87 off just 39 balls, hitting 12 fours and four sixes, before missing out on a century.
Perera provided the finishing touch, remaining unbeaten on 54 off 24 balls with six fours and three sixes, helping Delhi Royals set a daunting total of 195/3 in 15 overs.
Chasing 196, Rajasthan Kings suffered an early blow as opener Phil Mustard was dismissed for a duck in the first over by Parvinder Awana, who bowled a wicket-maiden.
Despite some resistance from Gaurav Tomar (34 off 18) and Rajesh Bishnoi (31 off 12), Rajasthan struggled to build momentum. Bipul Sharma was the game-changer with the ball, taking three wickets to reduce Rajasthan to 78/4.
Rajat Singh, the Kings' top scorer from their previous game, played a valiant knock, remaining unbeaten on 48 off 32 balls. He, along with Manpreet Gony, tried to revive the innings, but the target proved too steep.
Bipul finished with match-winning figures of 3-18, while Awana contributed with 1-15, including a maiden over to seal the deal for the Delhi Royals.
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