IPL 2023 RR vs DC: Cracking fifties from Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler help Royals put up 199 on board

New Delhi: Quick fifties from Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler helped Rajasthan Royals reach 199 as the openers continue to impress while batting first. When the Capitals tried to make a comeback with wickets, Shimron Hetmyer gave the finish as the Royals put up 199 on the board.

Jaiswal began the inning with five fours in the first over and went on to score 60 off 31, hitting 11 fours and a six. It was raining fours in the powerplay and the opening stand continued till 98 runs before pacer Mukesh Kumar caught and bowled Jaiswal. His wicket was critical for DC to bring the run rate down as RR scored 96 in the first eight overs. Buttler, who was dropped by Anrich Nortje on 18 and, went on to score 79 off 51 before Mukesh Kumar caught and bowled him too.

Hetmyer scored 39* off 21, hitting one four and four sixes while Dhruv Jurel, who was picked up in the XI this time, contributed 8* off 3 as he went off the mark with a six on the first ball.

Sanju Samson fell for a duck when Kuldeep Yadav bowled a wider ball, which was miss-hit and caught by Nortje. Riyan Parag managed 7(11) before Rovman Powell hit a bullseye at the stumps.

While the DC bowlers led a pullback, their fielding was questionable as after Buttler, Shimron Hetmyer was dropped on 15 and he went on to hit those big sixes in the death.

The Capitals dropped Mitchell Marsh, Sarfaraz Khan and Aman Khan to bring in Manish Pandey, Lalit Yadav and Rovman Powell. Prithvi Shaw also did not feature in the playing XI as DC was fielding first. The batter is expected to join as an impact player.