Delhi Capitals (DC) moved to the top of the points table after beating Rajasthan Royals 13 runs in Match 31 of the Dream11 Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Wednesday (RR).

DC v RR | IPL 2020 Match 30 Highlights

It took Ben Stokes 162 runs to win and hit a four on the first ball but could have run out if Ajinkya Rahane had scored a direct hit. RR scored 21 points on the first two overs, as Stokes and Buttler scored three and one four respectively.

In the third over, Buttler went up against Anrich Nortje before exiting in the same over. The RR wicketkeeper batsman cream a six from the first ball and then scooped two for four. But Nortje had the last laugh when the Butler cameo ended and broke through his defenses to give DC their first break.

DC introduced spin in game four and the move paid off when R Ashwin took the chance to sack Steve Smith for 1. However, RR managed to score fifty on power play, with Stokes scoring 25 of those runs.

Meanwhile, Iyer had to leave the field after diving rather awkwardly while saving a boundary. Sanju Samson hit two highs before Stokes hit two fours over the next three overs to push RR over 80 at the end of the ninth over.

The Samson-Stokes couple were a touching distance to complete the 50-run stand, but DC managed to beat it for the third time that night when Tushar Deshpande, who was making his IPL debut, broke the partnership and Stokes for 41 in the deep brought over in the 11th. Axar then gave DC their fourth wicket after finishing Sanju Samson’s 18-ball innings with 25 runs.

Robin Uthappa hit a four and a six ahead of Nortje in the 13th when RR brought up her hundred. But RR lost their fifth wicket in the next game when a mix-up between Uthappa and Riyan saw Parag go back to the dugout. RR was over 115/5 after the end of the 14th and took 47 of the last six to seal a win.

Rahul Tewatia got a reprieve on the 15th because Nortje could not hold on to the fine leg. R Ashwin then threw a tight 16th place and only conceded two runs. RR switched to 133/5 after scoring 8 points against Kagiso Rabada on the 17th and Tewatia playing a ramp.

DC then conceded only 7 runs over the next two overs, courtesy of Nortje and Rabada.

Nortje chose his second wicket of the game when Uthappa, after dancing down the floor, failed to connect his racket to the ball and got bowling. Rabada threw past the penultimate time, taking Archer’s wicket and giving up only three runs.

RR took 22 runs in the final, Tewatia still in the middle and debutant Deshpande in bowling.

While the pacemaker started over with a long-range shot with his right arm, he took no more than nine runs and took a wicket when DC returned to winning ways and beat RR by 13 runs.

Previously, Jofra Archer had hit the first ball of the game when he disrupted the wood to dismiss Prithvi Shaw. The right arm pacemaker chose his second wicket on power play after Ajinkya Rahane incorrectly adjusted his pull to give Robin Uthappa an easy catch in the middle.

Shikhar Dhawan, who came into the game because of his unbeaten 69 against Mumbai Indians, countered when he and Shreyas Iyer hit 35 runs over the next three overs to end up with six overs to 47/2. The pair finished the 50-run stand in game eight after Dhawan swept one in four. DC was halfway 79/2.

In the eleventh game, RR had a chance to knock Dhawan out of the way, but Rahul Tewatia missed a direct hit and Dhawan got a life. In the next round, the left-hander brought up his second fifty in a row.

Dhawan got out shortly after half a century after setting his reverse gear incorrectly and was caught bowling with the short third man in front of Shreyas Gopals.

DC moved over a hundred in the 13th and Iyer did his 1000 runs as an IPL. Two overs later, Iyer, who, despite Ben Stokes’ fine efforts, got a life near the boundary rope, brought up his half-century.

While DC had a big goal ahead of them, RR managed to pull things back in the final leg of the innings, conceding just 32 runs in the final five overs. The DC Skipper got off for 53 on the 16th after setting his shot incorrectly and Archer completing the catch.

While DC went over 150 in the 19th, Archer picked his third wicket of the game, dismissing the punchy Marcus Stoinis. Jaydev Unadkat got two wickets in the final when DC posted 161/7 on the board.