IPL: Calm Buttler, flamboyant Jaiswal take RR to 199/4 against DC
Guwahati, Apr 8: Yashasvi Jaiswal reaffirmed his status as the brightest talent among India's gen-next batters with a superb 60 while Jos Buttler showed no signs of finger pain en route a chiselled 79 in Rajasthan Royals' challenging 199 for four against Delhi Capitals in their IPL match here on Saturday.
Jaiswal hammered a hapless Khaleel Ahmed (0/31 in 2 overs) into submission by crunching five boundaries in the opening over, his 31-ball innings laying the foundation before Buttler finished with flourish. The English swashbuckler faced 51 balls.
The fate of DC bowlers could have been sealed in first six overs, which yielded 68 runs along with 14 boundaries, but Kuldeep Yadav (1/31 in 4 overs), Mukesh Kumar (2/36 in 4 overs) and Rovman Powell (1/18 in 2 overs) did well to control the damage to some extent at the back-end.
The total on this track would be considered a par score taking the pitch into account as 220 looked possible during the first 10 overs.
Khaleel literally lost both line and length and looked bruised as Jaiswal inflicted one humiliation after another on him during those couple of overs. Khaleel, in his career, has never had three consistent games on trot and Saturday was another such day.
Anrich Nortje (0/44 in 4 overs), DC's big bowling hope seemed to have had too much on his plate, as the onslaught at the other end did affect him as he also went for a flurry of boundaries, including one over the bowler's head.
Such was David Warner's helplessness that he had to ignore that Axar Patel's (0/38 in 4 overs) match-up against left-handers isn't great, and he was promptly smashed for three boundaries in his very first over.
The 50 came in the fourth over and 100 in the 10th even as Jaiswal completed a 25-ball half-century, his fifth over three editions of the tournament.
Seeing Axar's plight, his spin twin Kuldeep, also started bowling quick and flat which resulted in half-trackers, which were promptly punished.
It was Mukesh Kumar, who finally induced a mis-timed pull from Jaiswal which ballooned up and resulted in an easy return catch.
The confidence of Mukesh rubbed off on Kuldeep, who in his second over started giving the ball more air and floated one out of Sanju Samson's (0) hitting radar. Samson's ugly heave was taken by Nortje at long on.
Riyan Parag (7) had another failure, this time castled by Powell but Buttler after a quiet period in the middle overs conjured a 49-run stand with Shimton Hetmyer (39 not out off 21 balls) to take his team to a par score.
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Kalaburagi: 22-yr-old driver killed on spot as pickup vehicle crashes into bridge on NH in Afzalpur
Kalaburagi: The driver of a pickup truck transporting fish was killed on the spot as the vehicle rammed into a bridge on the National Highway bypass in Balurgi village of Afzalpur taluk early Friday morning.
The deceased has been identified as Anil Dasharatha Bhovi (22), a native of Bandarwada village in Afzalpur taluk. He was reportedly driving from Jewargi to Solapur, when he lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a bridge on the bypass in Balurgi. Anil Said to have died on the spot due to the intensity of the crash.
Afzalpur Police have said that the body of the driver has been sent to the Afzalpur Government Hospital and will be handed over to the family after completion of the postmortem examination.
A case has been registered in this regard at the Afzalpur Police Station and investigation is underway.
