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In a thrilling match between the Delhi Capitals and the Rajasthan Royals, Kuldeep Yadav’s 2 for 25 innings helped his team move up to No. 5 in the points standings and won him Player of the Match.
With RR requiring 41 off 18 balls to have a chance at the beginning of the 18th over, chasing 222, Kuldeep claimed two wickets for just four runs, swinging the game decisively in DC’s favour.
“It’s very important to bowl in good length. That is the challenge when you bowl in the death overs, especially when you know they have got power-hitters coming up,” Kuldeep said after the match. “I have seen [Donovan] Ferreira, having played against him in South Africa. I knew he is a back-foot player, so I just tried to push it further up. That was my plan to him, [and] I got him first ball. Then I was just varying the pace and the length.”
Kuldeep’s final delivery saw R Ashwin caught, following his successful review of the not-out leg before wicket ruling against Ferreira on the opening ball of the eighteenth over. In addition, he had only let up 21 runs in his opening three overs, halting RR’s gathering momentum in the chase.
Rishabh Pant, the captain of DC, stated that the intention was to reserve one Kuldeep over for RR’s right-handers, Ferreira and Rovman Powell, at the death.
“The thought was always there because for Rovman and Ferreira we wanted to keep that over,” Pant said. “We wanted to take that chance because with Kuldeep, we knew that these players are going to have problems. And as always, Kuldeep delivered – great to see that!”
Pant stated that DC’s fast bowlers were accurate in placing their yorkers after Kuldeep left RR with a massive ask in the final two overs. Mukesh Kumar bowled two in the last over, but Rasikh Salam bowled four in the 19th over, three of them dot balls to Powell.
“Especially in the back end, the way fast bowlers executed the yorkers [was the turning point],” Pant said. “I think that was a positive, because the way our fast bowling has been going and the way the tournament is progressing, each and every day the bowlers are coming on the positive side, and that’s good to see.”